Stories of the Too Young Universe
by Assemble-the-Avengers
Summary: Hanging On, Save, New Addition, Not the Last Goodbye, Once in a Lifetime One-shot Series. For those of you who were sad when I took this series down...
1. Chapter 1

A**fter i took all of my stories down in the Too Young Universe, i realized that although they arent exactly my best works, but they were my first and some people are actually attached to them, including me. So i decided I would put them back up but sort of in a collection... **

**So i re-present Hanging On, Save, Not the Last Goodbye, New Addition, and the Aleks and TJ one-shot series. **


	2. Hanging On

**HANGING ON **

1 - "Why are your cities so tiny?" Thor boomed, stuffing a box of pop tarts, cardboard an all, into Tony's toaster. "On Asgard…" he continued.

"Because we have more of them!" Tony snapped, rubbing his temples with his thumbs, trying to alleviate some of the pain from his hangover. "PEPPER!" he yelled through the tower.

"Shall I find Mrs. Stark, sir?" Jarvis offered dutifully.

"No need Jarvis, thank you." Pepper responded, walking into the kitchen. "Yes Tony?" she asked irritably, turning to her boss and husband. His face was buried in the arm that was resting on the granite counter top. Pepper raised her eyebrows in annoyance when the millionaire pointed behind her. She turned around, laughing at Thor, as he stared in confusion at the destroyed toaster. She walked over to him, the fast 'click, click' of her heels, mercilessly aggravating Tony's headache. Pepper ignored the man's groan, removing the smashed pop tarts and cardboard pieces from the toaster. She showed Thor how to take the pop tart out of the silver package, watched him try it on his own until she was sure he wouldn't burn down the Tower. She then filled a glass with water, grabbed the whole bottle of aspirin before leading Tony to the couch. He gratefully swallowed the aspirin, obediently gulping down the rest of the water when his temperamental wife ordered him to.

"We really overdid it last night. Even Thor got a little tipsy and we all drank the same amount." He moaned with his head in Pepper's lap as she rubbed his head.

"Tony, you really should've warned Clint. He's never had that much to drink in his life." Pepper sighed, sympathetic for the archer.

Upstairs, Natasha was taking care of Clint. Whatever fancy drinks Tony had gotten into the assassin had actually gotten her partner sick. Clint had been slumped over on the cool tile floor of the bathroom, with his head between his knees all night. His body shook with the effort of not throwing up for the twelfth time that morning. Natasha sat on the edge of the bath tub, one hand on her fiancée's back and the other on his shoulder, cursing Stark in every language she knew. Once Natasha was convinced he could move without making himself sick again, she helped him to his feet, leading him to the bed they shared more often than not. She pulled the sheets up around him, cursing when he started shivering. Her suspicion was confirmed when she touched her hand to his hot forehead. She waited until he had fallen asleep before stalking from the room to find the man who was responsible for her partner getting sick.

"What did you do?" Natasha yelled at Tony.

"Please keep your voice down Natasha." Tony begged.

"What did you do?" Jane echoed quieter, coming into the room.

"Oh Jane, when did you get here?" Pepper asked pleasantly, keeping her eyes trained on her feverish husband.

"An hour ago. Thor's sick." She explained.

"So is Clint." Natasha included. Pepper nodded to Tony, confirming the knowledge that he was as well. "Has anyone seen the Cap?" Natasha asked, taking action seen as she was the only one seemingly not worried.

"Would you like to know the whereabouts of Captain Rogers, Agent Romanov?" the AI offered.

"I'm assuming he is in his room." She countered. Jarvis confirmed her assumption. "Call Dr. Banner." She ordered. Bruce had left a couple days before the other men had gone to the bar. He was tending to a virus outbreak in Guatemala.

"Dr. Banner," Natasha greeted.

"Yes, hello Natasha." He replied, his well known voice reverberating through the living room..

"It seems Barton, Stark, Rogers, and Thor have all been, for lack of better word, poisoned." Natasha could feel the two women behind her stop breathing at the terminology she had used. "Either that or they are all allergic to something in one of the many drinks they had. They went a bit over board with the alcohol last night so Jane, Pepper, and I assumed it was a hangover. But they have fevers, if I had to guess, Clint's was about 104." This plan was too perfect. Their assailant had managed to get four out of five of the men in one night and get through Rogers' immune system. The only person, who they trusted to treat the men, was countries away. This was a plan Natasha and Clint could've come up with.

"Steve too?" Bruce asked in disbelief.

"Yes. When can you be back?" Natasha asked, masking her anxiousness with her emotionless expression perfectly.

"There are very few sick people left. I'm sure they can manage without me. I'll be on the next plane out. Move them all to the same floor and keep them in separate rooms. You and Jane stay and watch them. I'll be there in the morning. But Romanov, you've got to get Pepper out of there." He ordered. Pepper's head shot up and her eyes widened.

"Excuse me Doctor, but why?" Natasha asked.

"Because she's pregnant." Natasha raised her eyebrows slightly, but said nothing.

"Ok. Thank you." She said and then ordered Jarvis to hang up.

"I was going to tell you all, I swear." Pepper rambled defensively.

"Pepper, you have to leave." Natasha said, allowing sympathy leak into her tone. Pepper watched Tony, tears welling in her eyes.

"I agree with Natasha, Pepper. " Jane said, anxiously shifting her weight from one foot to the other.

"We'll update you on the hour and I'll have him call you when he wakes up.

"The jet is waiting on the roof Mrs. Stark." Jarvis announced.

"Thank you, Jarvis." Pepper whispered. Pepper kissed Tony's forehead before sliding out from under him. Once Pepper had boarded her husband's jet and it had taken off, the two remaining women went one floor down to set up what was going to become a medical bay.

With the help of Tony's robots, all four sick men were in their own room on the same floor within three hours. Steve and Tony hadn't woken up yet but Clint and Thor were suffering the pain consciously. Natasha sat by Clint's bed, watching helplessly as he writhed in pain while his body fought whatever was attacking his system.

"What's going on Nat…?" Clint gasped before his question was cut off with a groan as his body arched again.

"I don't know yet Clint. But Jarvis is running tests and Bruce will be here in the morning." She said calmly, hiding her panic and desperation well. Clint whimpered as another wave of pain made its way through his body. Natasha laid her hand gently on his chest, directly over his heartbeat. She moved her hand up to his face, brushing her thumb across his cheek. She touched her hand to his sweaty forehead, growling a Russian swear word under her breath.

"Jarvis, what are their temperatures running at now?" she asked grimly.

"Mr. Stark is running a temperature of 104.7 and Agent Barton's is now 105.6. Thor has risen to 103.9. Captain Roger's will continue to rise because…"

"Jarvis, what's it at?" Natasha asked impatiently, gently rubbing circles on the back of Clint's hand that tensed every time pain coursed through his abused body.

"Captain Rogers is running a temperature of 107.5." Natasha cursed loudly. His body was fighting itself and his temperature would continue to rise because it couldn't kill him. It would eventually, but not for a while. It was physically impossible for their temperatures to be raising this quickly.

"Thank you Jarvis." She called, ignoring his polite reply, turning her attention back to Clint. His eyes started to close as she watched. "No, I need you to stay awake for a couple more minutes." He didn't respond. "Barton, look at me." She ordered. He forced his eyes open.

"It hurts, Tasha." He mumbled in a pained voice. She bit down on her bottom lip hard.

"I know, but you need to drink something first." He blanched.

"It won't stay down, Nat." he whispered. She shrugged, helping him sit up and then tipping water down his throat. Clint was right. It didn't stay down. He threw up anything Natasha had coaxed into him over the last hour and resumed shaking harder than ever.

"Agent Romanov, it seems both Thor and Jane have fallen asleep." Jarvis announced.

"That's good. Let them sleep." She mumbled, helping Clint lie back down as the shaking continued.

"Also, Agent Romanov, it seems Captain Rogers and Mr. Stark have woken up. Mr. Stark will go into cardiac arrest if the arc reactor's core is not replaced soon. And Mrs. Stark is calling as well." She cussed in Russian.

"Drink this. Slowly. I'll be back." She promised Clint, putting the water on the table next to him. He caught her wrist just as she spun around.

"You're doing great Tash. Don't stress yourself out." He told her, almost inaudibly.

"I'm responsible for four dying men. One of which has a metal heart that I can't even begin to understand. Another of which is an invincible, immortal, super soldier. The third is a God of Thunder whose body may or may not function the same way as ours. And the fourth is you. What in god's name am I supposed to do if you die on my watch?" she ranted.

"You're ok Tash. We trust you to try your… your hardest." He gasped as his body felt as if it was being doused in flames. "Go Nat." She knew she had no choice but to leave him.

"Tell Pepper I'll call her as soon as I switch out Tony's arc reactor." She growled at the AI as he announced, once again, that 'Mrs. Stark was calling'. Natasha pushed Tony's door open to find him better off than Clint, seemingly not in as much pain. Tony fed her instructions through a comm. link while Natasha searched through her teammate's workshop for the hidden box of replacement cores for the arc reactor. Once the core had been switched out for a new one, Tony's breathing became slightly lighter.

"Where's Pepper?" he panted quietly.

"She had to leave for reasons I'm sure she would rather tell you." Natasha explained vaguely, and then requested that Jarvis call Pepper.

"NATASHA ALIANOVA ROMANOFF, IF MY HUSBAND IS DEAD AND THAT'S WHY YOU DIDN'T CALL ME I WILL HIRE SOMEONE TO MURDER YOU!" Pepper screamed into the phone, tears evident in her voice.

"Pepper, calm down. He's right here. Breathing and wondering why you aren't here." Natasha stated calmly.

"Hey Pep." He called reducing to a fit of coughing as his shivering started up again. Pepper's sobs could be heard through the speaker.

"Hey, Pepper, it's ok. Really. I'm not going to die or anything."

"You better not Tony Stark!" she yelled in between sobs. "Because I am not raising our child on my own." She cried. Tony sputtered incoherent syllables for a few minutes before calming down.

"You're not what?" he asked, in desperate need of clarification.

"Not raising our baby alone." She repeated, quieter. "That's why I had to leave. I didn't want to Tony, I swear!" she defended.

"No, no. I'm glad you got out of here. If you got sick…" he trailed off as he clutched his head, letting out a low whimper. "Uh, Pep, I got to go. Love you!" he called before Jarvis hung up. The moment the call was disconnected, he let out a painful moan before collapsing back against the pillow. Natasha handed him a glass of water, ordering him to drink it, before turning to leave.

"Thanks Spidey." He called, smirking, but Natasha could tell it was s hbincere. She nodded before leaving to check on Steve. She opened the door to see Steve on his knees on the floor, holding onto the metal cabinet, hyperventilating, and shivering. In between gasps for breath, he whimpered unintelligible words. He collapsed back against the wall, clutching his head and groaning. She made her way to the Captain and crouched down next to him, putting a gentle hand on his shoulder. Once he noticed her, she moved the hand to his forehead. She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head.

"Jarvis, what is Captain Rogers' temperature?" Natasha demanded.

"107.9, Miss Romanov." He announced.

"Thank you." She muttered. "Ok, Steve, hey…" she said waiting for his attention. He looked at her, hands still resting against his sweaty forehead. "Ok. I'm going to help you as best as I can but we need to get you back on the bed. Tell me when you're ready." She stated patiently. He took an unsteady breath and nodded. Miraculously, with Natasha's help, Steve managed to haul himself back on the bed, collapsing on the bed against the wall. Pain racked through his body and he clenched his teeth together. She gripped his arm hard with one hand, holding a glass of water out to him with the other.

"No thanks." He whispered hoarsely. She smiled apologetically.

"You don't have a choice, Cap. We don't want to add dehydration to the list of problems." She said, calm as ever. He choked the whole glass down, gagging, but keeping it down. He collapsed backwards and turned to Natasha before he passed out again.

"The others…" he asked.

"All sick. You and Barton are the worst off but Thor and Stark are pretty bad too. Banner will be here in the morning. Get some sleep, Cap, you're gonna need it." She instructed coolly. She left, dropping by Tony's room again. The man was asleep with a pained look on his face. She closed the door. At least he was asleep. She stopped by Thor's room to check on both Jane and the Thunder God. Thor was awake, sweating and breathing heavier, but he seemed the best off out of the four.

"Get some water into him. Some food if you can." Natasha recommended before heading back to Clint's room.

"Hey Hawk," Natasha greeted quietly. He smiled weakly at her in return. She smiled pathetically at him before dropping into the chair beside his bed, burying her face in her hands.

"What's wrong Nat?" he asked concerned, reaching an unnaturally hot hand out to her, laying it on her forearm.

"I can't do this." She whispered in a broken voice. The calm, collected side of her had disappeared in the presence of her partner.

"You can. You are." He assured her.

"Thanks Barton." She said. He didn't buy the act, but he didn't have time to call her out on it before his few short minutes of reprieve were over.

The pain hit him harder than any other time before that, forcing a groan from his chest. It wasn't as pained sounding as Steve's had been, but it was even more heartbreaking because this was Clint. He had always been her constant. The one to laugh off an injury and to patch up Natasha when she over did it in the training room on a night when her sleep was plagued by nightmares. The one who had let her live all those years ago when he was sent to kill her. But no matter how many times she denied it, she knew the truth and so did Clint; it was no longer a debt. It hadn't been her 'owing him a debt' for years now. She loved him and he loved her. So he needed to live; to hang on. If not for himself, he needed to make it for Natasha.

His hand involuntarily curled around Natasha's arm, cutting off the blood circulation. The pain died out, gasping, whimpering and shaking left in its' place. She sat down on the side of the bed, positioning herself so that her thigh was up against the length of his torso. Hoping the contact would help him calm down. She unraveled his clenched hand placing it against her chest.

"Count my heartbeats." She instructed. Slowly, his hand relaxed as the initial pain died down to a harsh ache. When his breathing was perfectly in sync with hers, he dropped his hand from her grip. She made a move to get up. Clint put his weak hand down on her leg, shaking his head infinitesimally.

"I'm not leaving." She promised, getting off the bed. She grabbed a towel out of the corner of the room, refilling the untouched glass of water in the sink. He watched her every move with wary, faded blue-grey eyes. Watching the way her scarlet curls shielded her face from view every time she bent over. Watching the way her eyes reflected the disappointment she felt in herself. Watching the way her movements weren't as fluid as always, and noticing the way her footsteps were becoming slightly audible, her personal tell she was beyond exhausted. She came back over to him, resuming her previous position with the outside of her leg gently pushed up against his right side. Natasha pushed back his short hair that had matted to his forehead with sweat. His eyes started to close at her touch, resulting in him having to constantly force them open.

"You're not going to make me drink that again, are you?" he asked warily, looking at the glass of water.

"Clint, you have no choice. Dehydration will just make everything worse." She coaxed. He sighed, knowing she was right.

"Fine." He relented.

"Slowly." She reminded him, pulling him up into a sitting position. She wrapped his weak hand around the glass of water, watching and hoping as he swallowed an ounce at a time. His strength gave out at that moment and Natasha pulled the cup out of his hand, placing it on the table. "Good?" she checked. He nodded.

"Think so." Eventually, the miserable assassin passed out again, repeatedly mumbling Natasha's name over and over in his pain disturbed sleep. She watched him sleep until she couldn't procrastinate checking up on the other men any longer. The moment she was past the threshold, Jarvis' electronic voice rang through the hallway.

"Incoming call from Pepper Stark, Agent Romanoff." Natasha groaned.

"Natasha!" Pepper screamed.

"Yes, Pepper?" she replied patiently.

"How is he? Is he ok? How bad is it? Has Jarv-" she rambled.

"No Pepper. We don't know anything new." She answered. "I'll go see if he's awake, ok?" she offered, walking towards Tony's room. She pushed the door open.

"Pepper's on the phone." She announced to the sick and now awake man. He nodded.

"Thanks." He said sincerely to Natasha, before being forced by Pepper to answer a million questions at once. She walked past two doors, stopping in front of the Captain's. Just as before, he wasn't in his bed. Steve's hands were white as he clung to the edge of the sink for dear life, coughing at a force that would've broken a normal person's ribs.

"Steve…" she called quietly, putting her hand on his back. "Stop." She ordered, a rare note of compassion weaving its way into her tone. The coughing died down and he looked at her with clouded eyes. His body jerked and he fell back against the wall, collapsing to the floor. Natasha got down in front of him, touching his forehead. "Jarvis?" she asked.

"108.2 degrees, Miss Romanoff." She stiffened considerably.

"Ok, come on Rogers." She said forcefully. She threw his limp arm over her shoulder, pushing off from the wall.

"Thank you Agent Romanoff." He said in a low, polite voice. She nodded at him.

"Cap, you haven't eaten in two days." She said, matter-of-factly. "And I'm betting you threw up the water at some point." he would've blushed had his face not been so flushed already. She stood at the foot of the bed, staring him down until he finished the cup of water. He dropped the cup on the bed, groaning when the shivering started again. As she carried the cup to the sink, his low, agonized voice reached her ears.

"I practically killed him you know." He muttered quietly.

"Excuse me?" she asked, turning to face him with a quizzical look on her face.

"I could've saved him. Or if I hadn't blocked that blast he wouldn't have died." He continued in a sad voice. "He was my best friend. And I killed him… let him die, at the very least." Suddenly, Natasha understood. She placed the glass on the counter and walked back over to his bed. "And I do it again and again. Every night." He whispered.

"Listen, Cap. Your friend, Bucky right?" he nodded. "Your friend sounds like a very brave man from what I've heard. He knew the risks when he signed up for the army and he took them anyway. He died in one of the most honorable ways possible. You couldn't have done anything and it wasn't your fault. He wouldn't want you to be beating yourself up for this. It's been almost 75 years, Cap. It's time to forgive yourself and move on." She said in a rare kind voice.

"I'm scared I'll forget them. All of them." He admitted sadly. She shook her head, red curls bouncing around her face.

"You won't. All of them; Peggy, Bucky, Howard, Dr. Erskine… They'll never leave you. People like that… they make an irreversible impression in your life. People like Peggy and Bucky; they make an impression in your heart." She said, a little uncomfortable with the truth of the deep things she was admitting to the Captain. She tapped his heart with her finger. "Right there." She said.

"People like Clint?" he asked nervously, wondering if he'd crossed a line. She hesitated and then nodded.

"Yes. People like Clint. People like Peggy. People like Bucky. This was all beyond your control, Captain. So don't hold it against yourself." She turned around towards the door to leave.

"Natasha…" he called quietly after her. "Thank you." She nodded; a simple gesture that meant 'Anytime.' Because she was starting to really trust her dysfunctional family.

She made her way to the billionaire's room to force some water into Tony. Once she had, she walked to the end of the hall to Thor's room.

A rapidly tiring Jane Foster sat by Thor's bedside, holding his hot hand or tracing random patterns on his muscled arm.

"Thor…" Jane started tentatively, knowing what she was about to bring up was a tender subject for the lovable god.

"Yes, Lady Jane?" he replied, waiting for her to continue while ignoring the throbbing in his head, becoming mercifully distracted when she wouldn't look him in the eyes.

"Do you think… do you think Loki could've poisoned you four?" she questioned. He stiffened. "Truthfully Thor. Family issues aside." She added. He hesitated.

"Yes. I think it's possible." He answered. He even thought it might be probable. His brother had committed the ultimate form of betrayal. He had attempted to destroy two Realms. Jane knew this saddened her boyfriend.

"But why would he do that? You may be his enemy, but family trumps grudges." She murmured, frustrated.

"We stripped him of his powers. Cast him off on his own in Realm unfamiliar to him. Humiliated him in front of all of Asgard, and his Midgardian enemies. He has valid reasons to desire to harm…" he grunted, hand moving to his head. "us." He finished. Jane wanted to know why they didn't put Loki in prison, instead of only taking away his power and exiling him, but the question would have to wait.

"Are you feeling worse again?" she asked, concerned when he shivered, coughing for a minute or two afterwards. Thor's coughs sounded like miniature explosions, resulting in Jane wincing minimally.

"Yes. It seems so. The temperature of this room is rising." He noted, the volume of his voice dying down with his energy. This concerned Jane even more since she had been recently considering putting on her jacket. The room was rather cold in reality. She watched him speculatively. The color of his cheeks had changed with his fever. The new shade of red they had taken on more resembled the same shade as his cape rather than their usual hue. She ran her thumb across his cheek, watching with concerned eyes. She was just about to suggest he get some sleep when Natasha walked in.

"Hello, Jane." Natasha greeted, the yawning scientist nodded her assent. "Why don't you go get some sleep?" Natasha offered, noticing how tired the girl was. The offer was laced with tone of demand that had Jane nodding before she had finished her sentence.

"Thanks. You're sure you don't want to get some sleep? I can stay up." She offered courteously. Natasha smiled a forced angelic smile.

"No need Jane. Thank you though." The brunette leaned down, kissing her boyfriend's hot forehead before leaving, yawning again. "How are you feeling Thor?" Natasha asked the sick and miserable looking Asgardian King.

"I've felt better Lady Natasha," Thor answered regretfully. Natasha smiled at him. She asked meaningless questions about the Bilgesnipe he found so repulsive while he drank the water given to him. Soon, Natasha could tell he was drifting off, so excusing herself she left him to fall asleep.

She coaxed some water into Clint before his exhaustion pulled him under like a drug. So to keep herself awake, she made the rounds, repeatedly checking on four of the men in the family.

Jarvis reported that all four of their temperatures had gotten higher; Tony's had reached 105. Thor's had risen to 104.1, confirming Natasha's suspicion that his body most likely didn't function the same way, given his body temperature was rising relatively slower than the others'. Clint's was running at 106.3. And Steve's temperature was still climbing. It had reached 108.5. Tony and Clint would last until they hit 111. Natasha assumed Steve's body would tolerate higher. She couldn't guess with Thor.

` More than once, she prayed she was dreaming. She prayed she would wake up, with Clint lying next to her, healthy. And he would hold her in his arms, against his chest until she fell asleep again. But as another one of his muffled moans echoed through the hallway, she knew she wasn't dreaming.

Her facade was crumbling, even she could tell. She was beyond exhausted and even if she was too Russian to admit it, she knew, deep down, that she was scared. So while all the men were asleep, she chose to make a quick trip to the training room to rebuild some of her usual veneer; the wall that only one person had the strength to break through.

Natasha leaned against the punching bag, gasping for breath as if she were drowning. She stumbled to the wall and sunk down against it. Putting her head in her hands, she cried, silent, tearless sobs. She hadn't even been this tired, or scared, in Budapest. Budapest had been bad, but this was worse. She needed food, she needed sleep, and she needed Clint to be ok. She looked at the small black watch on her wrist. She had been down in the basement, pushing herself beyond her limits for the better part of an hour and a half. Ignoring every protest in her body, she somersaulted, jumping to her feet with the agility only she possessed. She flexed her aching hand, hissing a curse as pain that accompanied a break reverberated through her hand and up her arm. She rolled her eyes, regarding it only as an inconvenience.

"Miss Romanov, I have detected a new virus running through their systems." Her head snapped towards the ceiling at Jarvis' voice.

"What?" she growled.

"I have detec-" he began again.

"I heard you." She snapped. She cursed, hitting the wall with her good hand.

"Come on Banner." She hissed pleadingly. "How?" she asked the AI.

"It seems it was transferred to their bodies through a fluid." He explained. The only thing those men had drank since they got sick was water.

"Jarvis, you would tell me if someone had been on the property right?" she checked.

"Yes Agent Romanoff, but it seems that-" Natasha shook her head.

"Jarvis, I won't be able to understand any of this. Save it for Banner." She instructed, making her way to the elevator.

"Of course." He concluded. She hit the button with the men's floor on it, cradling her hand against her chest. Before making the rounds, she stopped by the bathroom in the hallway, tearing it apart, searching for the first aid kit. She found it and unzipped it with her good hand. Ripping open the package of gauze rap with her teeth, she started winding it tightly around her fractured hand. Once she finished, she dropped her hand to her side.

She worked backwards this time, checking on Thor first. The thunder god was still asleep, taking labored unsteady breaths. Next, she stopped by Tony's room. The philanthropist was hunched over the sink, head in his hands and elbows on either side of the sink.

"You ok?" she called quietly from the doorway. He nodded. Tony turned to face her, revealing his sick looking pallor and blood shot eyes. "Get back in bed Stark." She ordered. He stumbled across the room, sitting down on the edge of the makeshift hospital bed.

"What if I die and leave Pepper all alone with the baby?" he muttered sadly, staring down at his hands.

"You're not going to die. You wouldn't leave them without a fight. That much I'm positive of about you." She said with a tone of finality. He nodded at her.

"Never seen this side of you Widow." He smirked. "You're pretty good at it." He admitted. "You're actually… nice." He mocked.

"Don't get too used to it." She replied. "You good?"

"Yeah. Thanks. Again." She closed the door behind her, leaving the millionaire with his thoughts.

Third she checked on Steve. Looking into the room, she first saw him writhing in the bed, and then noted he was asleep. The poor man was drenched in sweat, his whole body tensed. Unable to watch it any longer, she shut the door and moved on to Clint's room. His eyes were clenched shut and his white knuckled fists were cradling his head. Low whimpers floated across the room to where Natasha was standing in the doorway. She walked up to him, brushing her hand across his forehead.

"Hey." she said softly. His eyes flew open at her voice.

"Hey Nat." he coughed. She reached out and took his hands in hers. Natasha ignored the pain in her hand, she'd had worse, but there was nothing she could do about the inevitable, infinitesimal flinch the pressure caused. He glanced at her, assessing her for the first time. "What'd you _do _Natasha?" he asked angrily.

"Probably just sprained it." She lied. "Fractured at the worst." She amended. He shook his head.

"Aw c'mon Tash. Can't you just…" He started. Her eyes flashed. She got off the bed and began pacing.

"Can't I just _what _Clint? What is it you want me to do? Did you know Pepper's pregnant? No, you didn't. Did you know that I will be responsible if that baby grows up without a father? No, you didn't. Did you know that Steve's temperature is up to 108.5 and climbing? No, you didn't know that either. And _you, _you idiot, engaged a month, and I'm _losing you!_" she yelled, hating the tears streaming down her face with a passion.

"Come here Tasha." He sighed. She rubbed a hand across her face, wiping away the salt water on her face. She moved over and stood by the bed. He took a deep breath, misery and agony flashing in his eyes as he forced himself into a sitting position. He placed one burning hand on either side of her face. "Natasha," he whispered, brushing a thumb across her pale cheek. "You _can't _lose me." He promised. She pulled his hands away, pushing him back down. "You need sleep Tasha." He whispered hoarsely. He fingered the dark, and darkening, purple bruises under her eyes. She turned her head away from him, getting her lifeless curls tangled in his fingers."When's the last time you slept, Nat?" he asked warily. She could feel his hand tense in her grasp.

"Hush, its ok…" she murmured, rubbing circles on the back of his hand with her thumb. She waited to answer his question until the pain had subsided. "A few hours before the mission." She answered vaguely.

"Which mission Natasha?" She bit her lip.

"Shanghai." He locked his fingers on her chin, forcing her to look at him. She easily could've resisted, or broken his fingers with her teeth in twenty different ways, but she let him. Searching her eyes, and hating what he saw, he let out a shaky sigh.

"Please get some sleep Tasha." He begged. She shook her head.

"I can't." she shrugged. "But you can. Banner will be here in the morning." She informed him. "Sleep Clint." She ordered.

"The waves of excruciating pain make sleep sort of difficult." He joked but she could tell he was serious.

"Try." She leaned down and kissed his forehead, forcing herself to leave the room. But she'd be back. She always came back to him.

2 - "Natasha…" a familiar voice called from behind her. The dish towel fell from Jane's hands to the floor and Natasha broke into a full blown grin. The girls had been washing the drinking glasses with bleach, terminating any possibility of the wretched virus multiplying.

"Oh, Bruce!" Jane shouted, launching herself at the doctor. She locked her arms around his neck as the socially challenged doctor patted her back awkwardly.

"Uh, yeah. Hi Jane." He muttered. Jane pulled away, blushing, and retreated to pick up her towel. Natasha looked at him as though, had she been anyone but herself, she would've reacted the same way Jane had.

"Dr. Banner," Natasha acknowledged.

"Romanov," he nodded.

"You better get started Bruce." She suggested, involuntarily cradling her hand against her stomach. He gestured questioningly at the obvious injury. She scowled at the unwelcome action.

"Nothing. Fractured it." She explained quickly. He took in the purple shadows under her eyes, raising his eyebrows in disapproval. She narrowed her gaze at him, crushing his idea to say something. "It's bad doctor." She noted as he followed her to the elevator.

"I bet I've seen worse." Natasha kept her face expressionless.

"Who would you like to see first?" she asked.

"I probably need to get them all in the lab…" he said contemplatively. Natasha winced internally. She didn't want to think about how miserable it would make the men to move them.

"Whatever you believe is best, doctor." She said, instead of protesting. He rubbed his hands together, somewhat resembling a super villain. He nodded. The plan was made; he and Jane would set up beds in the lab while Natasha got the four very sick men downstairs. "Jarvis, what are their temperatures at?" she called, just as the elevator was about to let Bruce out on the lab floor.

"Mr. Stark is running at-" Jarvis started.

"Names and numbers only please." She sighed.

"Mr. Stark, 105.4. Thor, 104.5. Mr. Barton, 106.3. Mr. Rogers, 108.7." Jarvis declared. Natasha pushed her palms against her eyes, ignoring Banner's wide eyed stares.

"Wha-" he stuttered, just as the elevator dinged.

"That's your floor. Jarvis, tell Jane to meet Doctor Banner down in the lab." The female assassin ordered. Bruce, who had previously looked relatively confidant for once, now looked more nervous than usual.

Natasha was strong. She was stronger than most men you'd ever meet. But she still wasn't sure she'd be strong enough to support most of a very large demigod's weight. So as she stood beside Thor's bed, shaking him awake, she wondered how it would be possible for her to help him to the elevator.

"Oh, hello, Lady Natasha." He greeted, coughing between words.

"Good Morning Thor. Doctor Banner has arrived and he would like you all in his lab." She explained. He paled.

"Ok." He said. The simple wording made her worry a little more about him.

"Ready?" she checked. He nodded. She held onto his forearm with most of her strength, hauling him to his feet. He slumped forward against her and Natasha buckled a little under the weight. "I'm going to need you to help me out a little Thor…" she gasped. Some of the weight was removed, allowing her to stand up and help the large god to the elevator. He stood in the elevator, panting. When the elevator dinged, he leaned against her again. The doors opened, revealing the metal lab that now resembled a miniature hospital. Jane inhaled sharply, running towards her boyfriend. Jane got under his right arm, balancing out his weight. Together Jane and Natasha practically carried Thor to one of the beds. Natasha left Jane to care for him while she brought the others down.

The tired red head wasn't exactly looking forward to waking up Tony Stark. She wasn't sure if being sick would make this easier or harder. Taking a deep breath, she began to shake him awake. He waved his hand blindly, no doubt an attempt to slap her.

"Stark, get out of this bed." She ordered frustrated. He mumbled something under his breath and turned over to face her.

"Not sure that's possible Arachne." he muttered in condescending, snarky, and also somehow pained voice.

"Let's go. I'll help you but Bruce wants you all in the lab." She held her hand out to him. He blinked at her. "Get over it. Let's go." He rolled his eyes and dropped his hand on top of hers. She pulled his arm around her shoulders, helping him stumble to the elevator.

"Brucey-boy to the rescue!" he shouted drunkenly when the doors dinged open. Natasha dropped him gracelessly on the bed beside Thor's.

The 'cold hearted' assassin was, for once, feeling guilty for what she was about to do. She stared at the relatively calm features of Steve Rogers. This was the most relaxed she'd seen him since he'd gotten sick. He still wasn't relaxed by definition, but it was the closest he'd come to it in three days.

"Steve…" she called, shaking him gently. "Steve, you've gotta wake up."

"Yes ma'am." He mumbled weakly, forcing his eyes open. She pulled him into a sitting position, hooked an arm around his waist, pulling him to his feet. His eyes rolled back a little bit. He snapped them shut, putting his unoccupied hand to his head. "Hey, you're ok." She said quietly. He nodded, swallowed hard, and opened his eyes again. She helped him to the next bed before, once again, turning on her heel and leaving.

"Hey…" she whispered, running her, for once, shaky hand down the side of Clint's face. "Did you get any sleep last night?" she groaned.

"Did you?" Clint countered. She scowled.

"Banner wants all of you in the lab." She explicated.

The dropping sensation of the elevator hadn't bothered the others so the thought hadn't occurred to her until the elevator started and Clint collapsed against the wall, palms pressed against the cool surface, gagging. She pulled him back against her, looking at him eye to eye until he relaxed against her.

"Bruce," Clint slurred in greeting. Banner stared wide eyed at the pale, sweating, shaking, all over sick looking assassin.

"Clint…" he stammered. Natasha helped him onto the bed, not bothering with the covers.

"Have they been drinking any water?" Bruce asked Natasha, turning back to his computer screens. The addressed killer would've laughed had she been anyone but her 'cold' self.

"Plenty." She replied. The doctor nodded.

"Good. Food?"

"They could barely keep the water down Bruce." She sighed. It was getting painfully difficult to keep her usual front up. He put one hand up in surrender while the other flew seamlessly across the computer keys.

"Tasha?" Clint called weakly as he struggled to sit up. She walked quickly to his side, putting her hand lightly against his chest. He fell back against the pillows.

"What?" She replied.

"Get some sleep now. Banner's here. Just… just a couple hours." He mumbled pathetically, trying hard to disguise the pain behind his voice. Natasha had started shaking her head at 'some'.

"I can't. I need to debrief Bruce. And he's going to need help with you children." She explained, smirking slightly. Bruce waved his hand in dismissal, keeping his focused eyes trained on the screen.

"It'll take me a while to read all of this data Jarvis collected. Go ahead Natasha." Bruce declared distractedly.

"I'm with Robin Hood on this one Miss Assassin." Tony chimed in.

"As am I, Lady Natasha." Thor called, still in a rather loud voice, though it had quieted considerably.

"Miss Romanoff," Steve nodded his agreement.

"Sorry Natasha." Jane shrugged, signaling her consent. Natasha fought the childish urge to huff like a little girl. Clint smiled sheepishly.

"Happy bird-brain?" she whispered so only he could hear.

"Very. Sweet dreams Tash." He called after her. Natasha disappeared up the staircase and went up the stairs to her bedroom.

Two hours later, she was awake, exhausted as she was before, changing into black skinny jeans and a black v-neck tee shirt in front of her mirror. Out of habit, she slipped her handgun into the small holster on her belt. Sighing, she removed it, placing it in the locked drawer with her engagement band. Biting her lip, she pulled the ring out of the drawer, holding the thin chain between her thumb and forefinger. She pulled the gold chain over her head. Wearing it on a necklace so that she wouldn't lose it had started on a month long solo mission to Italy. Clint wasn't coming and it was the first month of their engagement so she brought it with her. She was captured and her captor discovered her ring. He taunted her about the Black Widow going soft. It didn't faze her because it wasn't true. But since that mission, she didn't wear it on assignments.

Natasha tucked it safely behind her shirt as she fought off the dark thoughts invading her brain. Thoughts of the possibilities that she may never switch it out for a wedding band, forced her from her suffocating room and down to the lab. Halfway down the stairs, she heard Clint's groans echo through the tower. Throw Steve's agonized whimper into the mix and Natasha was practically sobbing as she raced down the stairs. This was her consequence for allowing herself to love someone, and trust seven other people. It internally compromised her. Still, she wouldn't trade it for the world. Plus, it didn't affect her field work so what did it matter. She knew what it mattered; she had many enemies. And shall those enemies find out that she is attached to seven people, like her Italian captor, they could use those that she cared about against her.

"Everything ok, down here?" she asked professionally. Clint could see right through the tinted, now fragile, glass known as her cold-hearted self. He could see that she was still exhausted. He could see that she was scared. He could see she was worried. He could see a lot of emotions that were hidden to the others.

"Nat…" he whined. "What was that? Like, two hours?" he panted. She glared at him.

"_Shut up, I'm fine." _He translated. He sent her a look translated into,

"_You most definitely are not fine Tasha." _A slight, condescending tilt of her head said,

"_You shouldn't be talking." _Her gaze saddened and momentarily flickered to the ground. "_Nightmares."_ That meant. He waited a millisecond until she looked up again.

"_Aw Tash. I'm right here, you know that. I'm not going anywhere." _She shrugged imperceptibly.

That whole conversation occurred over a period of three seconds, by each partner reading the other's body language.

"That's none of your concern Agent Barton." She joked aloud, smirking for good measure, referring to the spoken conversation.

"Listen up, flirts. We need to figure this out. Our star spangled man with a plan isn't going to be able to hold on much longer." Tony muttered sadly, glancing at their writhing, sweaty, coughing, gagging, pale, whimpering leader. His breathing was coming shallower by the hour.

"What've you got for us Bruce?" Natasha asked, once again professionally.

"They were definitely poisoned." He concluded. He tapped the keyboard a couple times until the information on what Natasha recognized as a poison came up. Everything from what the horrid toxin was made of, to possible origins of the venom glowed bright and haunting on the Stark Industry computer. "I was hoping you'd be able to match this with a name. If I have a name, it'd be easier to find a cure." Natasha stared unbelieving at the screen. She knew this poison. "If not we could-"

"Morte Lente." She mumbled.

"What?" he asked, his fingers slowing to an annoying tap on the luminescent keyboard.

"It's name. The poison, it's called Morte Lente." She repeated. "It's an Italian toxin used on prisoners. I know because… because they used this on me." She spoke breathlessly. She turned to face the wide-eyes of those conscious in the room. "They used it to get us to talk." She shrugged. "They had the cure so once you talked, they…" her striking green eyes glowed. "They have the cure." She said forcefully.

"Natasha, no!" Clint ordered weakly. Even Tony opened his mouth to protest.

"Not a good idea, Red." He said seriously. "What'd you do to get the Italian mafia after you anyway?" he asked curiously.

"Oh, nothing much." She responded sardonically. "Just stole thirteen years worth of research." She sighed. She cursed, aiming a perfectly positioned kick to the wall. At the resounding boom, Steve jerked awake. "I should've realized it sooner." She hissed.

"What's going on?" he asked breathlessly, taking in Clint's horrified expression, and Natasha's of guilt. Tony quickly explained how Natasha knew the poison and wanted to head to Italy to find the cure.

"Help us out here Spangles. Tell her it's a bad idea." Tony grumbled. Steve looked at the red head's face. He knew that expression first hand; the 'it's-my-fault-and-I-need-to-do-this' look that he had worn more times than he cared to count.

"Be careful." Steve whispered to her. Clint gaped at him.

"No, Nat. Please don't." Clint begged. Natasha walked up to Steve, ignoring Clint for the moment.

"I will. Thank you." She muttered, kissing his overly hot cheek. "Hang on until I get back ok?" his laugh turned into a grimace as it aggravated… everything.

"Sure, sure." He replied absently. She moved onto Tony. She didn't know whether she was saying goodbye in case _she_ didn't make it back, or in case _they_ didn't make it until she got back.

"None of that goodbye crap Peter Parker. I'm gonna need help with Pepper. Get you and your skin tight suit back to this country ASAP." He ordered seriously.

"Tony." She sighed. "I expect you and your gaudy suit in Naples when I call for backup." She joked, and then she put a hand on his forehead. "Kidding. Get out of this bed and I will send all of your suits to the middle of nowhere in Australia." She growled.

"What are kangaroos going to do with an arc reactor?" he muttered. Natasha smirked at him. He shot her a brief, genuine smile.

"May Hlin be with you, Lady Natasha." Thor offered. Natasha hadn't known Thor was awake.

"Thank you, Thor." She replied. Although she had no clue who 'Hlin' was. Finally, she took a deep breath and turned to Clint. The look of worry, hurt, pain, and horror on his face was almost enough to make her stay. He was the only person who knew all of what her 'friends' in Italy did to her. But she needed to do this. They were trying to get at her and her family was dying because of it. She went closer to him so she could speak to him without the others hearing.

"Don't Tasha. Don't go. They'll… they'll… well, you remember what they did to you!" he yelled quietly. She shook her head.

"I don't have a choice Clint. This is my fault." She murmured, running her hand through his short hair.

"Bruce will figure something out." He countered. She shook her head.

"He won't. And by the time he does," her gaze flickered to the Cap, then down to Clint. "It'll be too late." She sighed. "Promise me you'll hang on until I get home?"

"Promise me you'll _come_ home?" he countered. She nodded. "I'll be waiting." She moved back so that she could remove the chain around her neck. She held his open hand in hers, dropping the chain, ring and all, into his hand, closing it around the jewelry.

"Keep it safe until I get back." He opened his hand and looked down at the engagement ring with a pained expression. "Love you Clint." She whispered, pressing her lips down on his. She knew she could get sick, but if she got the cure, which she would, it wouldn't matter.

"Love you Tasha." He choked in reply. "See you soon." She nodded and turned to Banner. She sent him a look that universally meant 'take care of them'. He nodded, sifting through a bunch of papers for something. He turned to her, tossing something small and black through the air. She caught it easily, and rolled it in her hand.

"It's hooked up to Jarvis." He explained. She nodded her thanks and left the lab. She bolted up the stairs to her room to change into her cat suit. In her room, she slipped the absurdly tight suit up her body, zipping it up before she loaded every weapon in her possession into every holster in her black outfit. Clasping her Widow's bite bracelets around her thin wrists, she turned the voltage down so it would only disable. She fitted the earpiece Banner had given her into her ear.

"Widow to Banner. Do you copy?" she tested.

"Copy." He replied.

"Mr. Stark has asked me to inform you that his jet is waiting for you on the roof." Jarvis announced. Natasha secretly wondered how many jets the millionaire owned, but she ignored the question.

"Thank you Jarvis." She headed for the roof, praying she could get in and out in time to save the team.

Downstairs in the lab, all but Tony had been knocked out by their exhaustion once again. He dialed Pepper's number on his transparent cell phone.

"Tell Natasha that when I get back, I'm going to kill her." Pepper growled into the phone. "She was supposed to c-"

"The Italians might beat you to it Pep." He interrupted.

"What?" she asked, stopping her rant. Tony explained how she had taken off for Italy to find the cure. Pepper's horrified protests rang loud and clear through the phone as Tony held it away from his ear.

Across the room, Banner's quick fingers flew across the odd shaped keyboard. He murmured random words of frustration as he glared at the impossibly complex poison make-up. The watch he still wore out of precaution was emanating an annoying quick paced beeping sound as he struggled to control his breathing. Jane put a hand on his arm and he backed away from the computer. He sat down in the swivel chair a few feet back with his head in his hands.

"If I could figure this out, Natasha wouldn't have to go back." He muttered to himself as Jane walked away.

"Just take care of them as best you can. Keep them alive until she gets back. That's the best you can do Bruce." She called to him. He sighed; time to play babysitter.

Natasha deployed her parachute as she free fell from the plane. She detached her knife from one of the holsters on her right hip. The moment her foot touched Italian soil, she cut the strings on her chute and ran, leaving the Stark Industry parachute on the ground behind her. She ran for an alley, stopping once she was safely hidden in the shadows.

"Banner, do you copy?" she called into the comm.

"Copy, Agent Romanoff." He replied.

"I'm close to their headquarters. I'm moving in." she notified. She ignored his reply and moved into the over-sized 'storage shed' behind the restaurant she was hiding behind. She drew her gun and slipped through the window. The dark room was empty. She moved towards the center of the room, turning in circles with her handgun drawn and aimed into the dark. "Banner, there's no one-"

"Oh, but I'm here." A nauseatingly familiar voice called through the dark. Natasha turned around slowly, hiding the look of disbelief on her face. She held her gun tighter, pointing it in the general direction of the speaker. "You actually fell for it." He cackled. "You actually believed it was your little friends in Italy." She narrowed her gaze at him through the dark. He sighed. "Looking for this?" he held up a little glass bottle. She had to hold herself back from lunging at him.

"Why'd you do it? What do you have against them?" she demanded.

"Oh, everything my dear." Loki snarled.

"I thought you were in prison." She hissed.

"As did everyone else, Black Widow." He mocked. "Why do you need this little antidote? Your doctor couldn't come up with one?" he paused. "You won't make it back in time Miss Romanoff." He chastised.

"I don't have time for this." She muttered to herself.

She shot Loki's right arm, dodging a stream of blue light. Sliding forward as he dropped the glass vial, she was forced to dodge the scepter itself. She caught the vial in her hand, flipping to her feet. The God of Mischief stumbled away from her, clutching his arm. Before the god could recover she fired a Widow's bite at him. The shot buried itself in his shoulder, sending an electric wave through his body.

Under normal circumstances, she would've liked to stay and find out why he was back and why he targeted the men. But the men's clocks were ticking and she had to get home before it was too late.

"Antidote secured. Loki disabled." She recited into the comm.

"Loki?" Banner spluttered into the phone.

"Yeah. Contact SHIELD and have them send a retrieval team for Loki, he'll be out for a while. I'm on my way to the extraction site. See you in a few hours." She glanced at the small container of blue liquid before slipping it into a pocket on the inside of her suit.

Steve had fallen asleep after Natasha left for Italy two days ago and hadn't woken up since. He still had a pulse but the rest of the team wondered how much longer he would last. Clint wasn't far behind him. Tony hadn't said a word to anyone but Pepper since his comment about kangaroos and arc reactors and neither had Thor except the occasional whispered word of assurance to Jane. Banner was on the phone with Director Fury, relaying what Natasha had told him to the one-eyed man who was currently living up to his name. The man was furious that Odin hadn't kept his promise of keeping his adoptive son in custody. He was equally as furious that no one had told him about the poisoning issue. In the middle of a long string of curses on Fury's behalf, Bruce heard the hum of one of Stark's jets. He glared at the blue phone, before punching the end call button.

The usually respectful man's eyes widened. Once he realized he had just hung up on authority, he began wringing his hands together like a nervous old woman. A few minutes later, Natasha ran through the double doors of the lab, footsteps as quiet as ever.

"He must've been only trying to delay me. It was _too_ easy." She murmured to Bruce as she fitted the cure in his hand and turned to face the guys. Bruce muttered something behind her.

"Bruce?" she asked for clarification. His worried eyes scanned over the screen.

"It won't work for Rogers." He muttered loudly, pounding a fist on the table. Natasha walked over to him, laying a hand on his shoulder.

"You can make it work." She assured him. He swallowed, nodding. She didn't tell him to hurry, she didn't yell at him for not working on it sooner when he couldn't have known, she did it kindly for once in her life. She waited to walk away until he was engrossed in his work, once he was, she moved over to Clint.

"How you holding up?" she asked, half-heartedly. He coughed in response. "I know. I'm sorry." He looked her up and down, searching for hidden injuries. She shrugged. "Nope. Loki didn't even put up a fight." His eyes widened with worry. "Yeah, Loki." She confirmed. To anyone else, it would've seemed like she was talking to herself. He uncurled his hand, revealing the small mound made up of gold chain and an engagement ring. Natasha reached forward, taking it in her hand, before slipping it over her head. Watching as the ring settled against her sternum, she leaned forward, placing a kiss on his forehead then moving away from the bed.

"Could you call Pepper? If she hears my voice she'll freak." Tony whispered hoarsely. Natasha nodded.

"Sure." She pulled her Stark Industries phone out of another hidden pocket on her tight SHIELD uniform. She clicked on Pepper's contact, listening to the annoying ringing sound through the speaker.

"How'd your mission in Italy go?" Pepper asked bitterly after the first few rings.

"It ended up being Loki." Natasha replied nonchalantly. She could hear the other redhead's spit take on the other end.

"_WHO?_" she screeched.

"Loki. I got the cure from him." She answered, watching Banner as he recited commands to Jarvis.

"How're all the guys?" Pepper sighed. Natasha scanned her eyes across the room at her dying teammates.

"Hanging in there." Natasha heard the faint sound of an ocean in the background. "Where are you?"

"Malibu Beach House." She exhaled. "First place I thought of."

"How're-" the assassin started.

"I think I got it!" Banner shouted from deep in his nest of papers, calculators, pencils, test tubes, and files.

"I'll have to call you back." She murmured to the confused woman in California, smashing her finger into the terminate call button. She leaned against the metal table, looking over Bruce's right shoulder. The computer mouse hovered over a 3D diagram of a DNA strand.

"Loki modified the poison so that it would blend with Rogers' serum altered DNA and attack those tougher cells from the inside out. Once the chemical fought through the stronger cells, it flew through the unchanged cells, which were Steve's body's last defense. So, if I rework the antidote so that it-"

"Bruce, if it will work, don't explain, _do!_" she interrupted. He nodded frantically as he took the small vial of blue liquid, poured a fourth of it into its own test tube, pounded a few more computer keys, and yelled a few commands at Jarvis. The unusually frenetic scientist claimed something from one of Stark's robots and poured it into the same container as the solution set aside for Steve. As both fluids combined, he shoved it into another machine Natasha had no name for. He loaded three syringes with the unchanged antidote, setting them gently on a towel beside him. He motioned towards them with a seemingly careless hand.

"I still have to finish Steve's. You do the other three men. Directly into their blood stream," he instructed, hurrying across the room. With careful hands, she picked up one needle from the towel, walking to the bed farthest to the right. Distantly she wondered if startling a very large, un-alert, strong god with a _needle _was the best option, but as he shivered again, she plunged the needle into Thor's wrist without a second thought. Jane sat useless on the opposite side of the bed, not moving until Natasha glared at her. Then she jumped up, ran towards the table, then running over to Tony Stark, syringe in hand. The billionaire jerked awake, a couple angry mumbled words tumbled from his mouth until he realized what Jane was doing. Natasha, gracefully as always, even in a situation such as this, switched out the empty needle for a fresh one, elegantly hurrying over to Clint's bedside. Gingerly picking up his hand, she clamped her fingers tightly around his wrist, palm up, and took a deep breath before forcing the needle into the sensitive skin. His eyes snapped open, and Natasha thanked God he was too weak to put any force into pulling his wrist away. Suddenly, a beeping noise sounded over the intercom.

"Jarvis, what's that?" Jane called worriedly.

"Captain Rogers' heart rate, Miss Foster." The AI answered gravely. Natasha's head spun in Steve's direction. She quickly emptied the rest of the syringe's contents into Clint's blood stream before going over to where Banner stood over a few scientific tools. A robotic TV screen rolled over to where the two healthy Avengers' stood, a heart rate monitor appearing on the display.

"It's done! It's done!" he yelled frantically, his own watch emitting a quick beeping noise. She grabbed the syringe from his grasp, glancing at his watch. He understood and slipped from the lab momentarily. Natasha sprinted over to the Cap and buried the needle in his serum-enhanced skin, just as the monitor flat-lined.

Natasha cursed, continuing to depress the syringe. Once it had been emptied, she tossed it thoughtlessly over her shoulder. Then she climbed on the bed, hovering over Steve on her knees. She didn't flinch when a very green and very sad Bruce Banner smashed through the wall. He bounded quietly over to where Natasha was forcibly pushing air into their leader's lungs. She worked quietly, ignoring a potentially dangerous Hulk behind her. A loud roar sounded from behind her. It didn't work as it had for Tony.

"Let me try." Bruce's voice sounded, minutes later. Natasha climbed off the bed and stood against the wall, perfectly calm as always on the outside. Bruce stood over the Captain for a good five-six minutes before he stood back, shaking his head. He leaned against the wall with his head in his hands. "I was too late." He muttered repeatedly. The realization was just starting to sink in for Natasha when their beloved Captain gasped, sucking in deep breath after deep breath. She fought the urge to walk up and slap the man. Because no matter how much she hated to admit it, she really did like her team, and if one of them died, their family would be one short and then it wouldn't be a family any more. And that was unacceptable. So instead, she listened to Jarvis tell the people in the overly hot room that Thor, Iron Man, Hawkeye, and even Captain America, who was dead for almost ten minutes a little while ago, were improving.

Natasha backed away from Steve and returned to Clint's side. She ran her hand down his arm, smiling as she observed his first peaceful sleep in days. Picking up his hand, she leaned back in her chair, drifting off to sleep while the men recovered.

"When can Pepper come home?" Tony whined for the hundredth time as he sat at the dining table with the rest of the team. Steve and Clint coughed to answer his question.

"Not until Rogers and Barton are completely better." Bruce answered patiently.

"Where'd our favorite hammer god go?" Tony wondered aloud. Natasha growled inaudibly. If that man hadn't almost died a week ago, Natasha would've slapped him. He hadn't shut up since he woke up yesterday. As Clint coughed again, groaning as it worsened his headache, Natasha moved closer to him leaning lightly against him. He wrapped an arm around her shoulders, pressing his forehead against her fiery red hair.

"Jane took him to her place." Banner answered. He started again, loudly so that Tony couldn't cut him off. "Since Thor was better, she took him home to get some clothes and whatever else he needed. They'll be back by dinner." He finished, looking back down at his newspaper. Steve prodded his small breakfast with his fork, watching it distractedly. Steve and Clint would recover completely within the week, according to Banner. And Tony never failed to complain that they were prolonging their recovery to torment him, to which Steve gaped, Clint scoffed, and Natasha glared. The idea that the two didn't want the headaches, the coughing, the nausea, the misery to end was almost comical. The four tried to be sympathetic to the knowledge that he just missed Pepper, but Tony Stark made sympathy very difficult. Steve excused himself, dropping his half eaten plate in the sink.

"Ma'am," Tony called condescendingly, holding his plate out to Natasha as she rose from her seat with Clint's plate. She smiled sweetly, a terrifying tell that she was annoyed. Tony's smirk faltered momentarily. She took his plate, turning to walk away before spinning on her heel and smacking the snarky scientist upside the head.

"Bed. Now." She ordered.

"You can't give me orders, my eight-legged friend." He grinned. The only girl in the room looked expectantly at Bruce.

"Doctor's orders along with an assassin's." Bruce muttered contemptuously. Tony huffed, leaving for his room. Barton sat patiently while Natasha did the dishes. After fifteen minutes, when Clint was practically passed out on the table, Bruce took pity on the man. "Take him to bed. He can_not_ get sick again." He murmured to Natasha. She dropped the plate she was currently holding into the metal sink before doing as Banner said, and taking Clint upstairs.

A week and three days later, the completely healthy Avengers' family stood on the roof of the Tower, waiting for the Stark's helicopter to land with Pepper in it. Tony was practically jumping up and down as the roar of the aircraft could be heard. The seven people shielded their eyes as the plane landed on the helipad. The moment it touched the ground, a flustered looking Pepper Stark raced towards Tony, throwing herself into his arms. He stumbled back a bit before placing her on the floor. The other's backed inside as the married couple just stood there looking at each other. The six smiled, turning around as he kissed her. Clint squeezed Natasha's hand as they walked into the elevator.

3- Natasha smirked as she looked at herself in the mirror. Pepper finished pinning the rest of the Agent's curly bright red hair up before pulling back and clapping her hands together. The engaged SHIELD agents had agreed that white dresses and tuxedos were not their thing unless it was necessary for a mission. So instead, the two were getting married in their uniforms. Natasha in her cat suit and Clint in his archery attire.

"You nervous?" Pepper chirped excitedly to Natasha.

"I don't get nervous." She responded confidently. "Especially when it comes to Agent Barton." She grinned.

Natasha, flanked by Pepper and Jane, walked from the changing room and stopped at the aisle. She stared at it speculatively for a moment realizing that, over a decade ago, had anyone told her that she would be marrying a SHIELD agent she would've been more than happy to demonstrate her signature thigh-choke. But as she caught sight of Hawkeye standing at the altar in his trademark uniform, she banished all nostalgic thoughts and continued down the aisle. As the three girls reached the altar, Pepper and Tony smirked at each other before tapping the bride and groom's shoulder. The maid-of-honor and best-man held out their hands and both of the engaged emptied their weapons into their friend's hands. First the Widow's Bites, multiple handguns, a few miniature smoke bombs, and more than a few knives were emptied into wide-eyed Pepper's hands. Then a handgun, a broken arrow, and his wrist guards were placed in an amused Tony's hands. Both dumped the weapons, unceremoniously, in the corner of the room. Fury's low chuckle could be heard from somewhere in the small crowd.

The small group of spectators was made up of Director Fury, Agent Hill, Happy, Dr. Selvigg, Darcy, and one or two other Agents the nearly married couple knew. The other people who would've been in the crowd were in the wedding; Captain America, as the unanimously agreed leader of the group, was the officiator. Dr. Banner was holding the wedding rings. Iron Man was the best man as voted by everyone but Clint. (The other team members wanted to see Clint's reaction to Tony's idea of a bachelor party.) Pepper was Natasha's maid-of-honor. Jane made up the brides maids, and Thor made up Clint's groomsmen.

"Who gives this woman to this man in marriage?" Steve began.

"That would be me." Fury called from his slouching position in the crowd. Clint chuckled.

"Dear friends, family, and agents, we are gathered here today to witness and celebrate the union of Natasha Romanoff (the Black Widow) and Clint Barton (Hawkeye) in marriage. In the years they have been together, their love and understanding of each other has grown and matured, and now they have decided to live their lives, and fight their enemies together as husband and wife." Steve proclaimed loudly.

"True marriage is more than joining the bonds of marriage of two persons; it is the union of two hearts. It lives on the love you give each other and never grows old, but thrives on the joy of each new day. Marriage is love. May you always be able to talk things over, to confide in each other, to laugh with each other, to enjoy life together, and to share moments of quiet and peace when missions are done. May you be blessed with a lifetime of happiness and a home of…"

"Your crazy dysfunctional family." Tony cut in. Cap glared at him annoyed, but broke down and laughed.

"Yeah, us." He said instead.

"Do you, Clinton Francis Barton, take Natalia Alianovna Romanova, to be your partner in life and sharing your path; equal in love, a mirror for your true self, promising to honor and cherish, through good times and bad, until death do you part?"

"I do." Clint replied, grinning.

"Do you, Natalia Alia-"

"I do." She cut him off. Clint laughed quietly. Steve motioned, with mock tiredness, to Bruce, who stepped forward and placed a ring in each assassin's hand. Clint held out his left hand for hers, locking his calloused fingers around her slim wrist.

"I give you this ring as a symbol of my love for you. Let it be a reminder that I am always by your side and that I will always be a faithful partner to you." He murmured as he slipped the ring on her finger, his grin going impossibly wider.

"I give you this ring _because _I love you. Let it be a reminder that I am always by your side and that I will always be a faithful partner to you." She responded, slipping the ring on his finger. They skipped all of the 'Wear this ring forever' stuff because they wouldn't be wearing their rings all the time. They would go in a safe in Nick Fury's office during missions.

"By the power vested in me by… well, Nick Fury, I now pronounce you husband and wife. You may now-" Steve sighed as Natasha launched herself at Clint, locking her arms around his neck and kissing him, successfully cutting him off again. "Kiss the bride" he mumbled, chuckling, stepping back. Tony, ever interrupting Tony, cleared his throat after a minute and a half.

"Yo, Hawkey-Boy…" He called in Clint's ear. Clint swatted at him blindly. When that didn't work, a blushing Steve Rogers cleared his throat. And Clint pulled away. She glared daggers at the Captain, sighing in amusement as he shrank away. She smiled and Cap came closer again.

"I present to you, Agents Natasha and Clint Barton." He smiled. Clint smiled at his wife, kissing her cheek before turning back to the quietly clapping crowd. Tony clapped Clint on the back actually smiling at him.

"Congrats Barton." Stark muttered. Clint went slightly wide-eyed

"So you _do _know I have a name?" Stark rolled his eyes. Clint turned around to see Natasha carefully hugging her six months pregnant best friend. Natasha pulled away, smirking like a mad man.

Pepper shook her head, mumbling 'Bad Idea' as Natasha glanced at her. Pepper handed one gun back to the new Agent Barton.

"Safety, love." Clint reminded her. She flicked the safety on and emptied it of all ammo.

"No bouquet." She explained before turning around and tossing it (to Jane) over her shoulder, where it 'coincidentally' landed in Jane's hands. Jane mouthed 'Thanks' to the female Avenger, laughing as a blushing Thor was suddenly very interested in a conversation two SHIELD agents were having.

Anyone who had seen Clint and Natasha spar knew what it was like to see them dance. Of course, no one had ever seen them dance exactly. But watching them fight was almost like watching a choreographed dance. Their movements were perfectly in sync.

So the people at their small wedding reception watched helplessly captivated as the couple flew seamlessly across the makeshift dance floor. Their first dance finished as Clint dipped Natasha to the floor, kissing her cheek and helping her upright again. Even Tony, the current DJ, blinked a few times before returning to his usual snarky self. Once their dance had ended, Tony gave his job over to Happy before pulling Pepper over to a corner on the dance floor. Thor practically picked Jane up and carried her into center of the 'festivities'. Steve walked up to Clint and put a hand on his shoulder before addressing Natasha.

"May I?" he asked nervously. Natasha glanced at Clint who nodded. She shrugged.

"Sure." After the wedding, Natasha had changed into a black halter top dress and Clint had changed into a silver suit. They were more dressed up for the reception then they had been for the wedding and they found that somewhat amusing. Clint wandered off to go talk to Bruce by the snack table. Steve eyed the unusual genuine smile on the newlywed's face.

"You're happy." He noted with a smile.

"I am." She admitted. The song ended and Bruce took Steve's place for the next song. She danced with him, even Tony for a half a song before she stalked away from him due to a sarcastic comment. Minutes later, she found her annoyance forgotten as she swayed in Clint's arms.

Everything was winding down, those that didn't live there had left, Thor was getting ready to fly Jane home, Clint and Tony were almost ready to take their girls upstairs, and Steve and Bruce were about to head to bed when someone walked through the double doors of the Avengers' Tower reception hall and crashed the party.

Tony slowly shifted Pepper behind him, Thor copied him. Pepper stood behind her husband, pressed up against his back with her arms wrapped protectively around her middle. Mischievous green eyes scanned the room before he opened his deceitful mouth.

"A party? And I wasn't invited?" Loki sighed. "Congratulations, by the way, Mrs. Barton." He drawled. Natasha's hand tensed in Clint's grasp.

"Why are you here, brother?" Thor called in a disappointed voice. The black-haired god scoffed.

"I am not your brother!" He yelled angrily. Thor winced at Loki's hurtful words. Jane poked her head around Thor's large body. "That wouldn't happen to be the famous _Jane _now would it?" Loki purred, making a move to walk towards her. Everyone in the room had the same thought running through their head, 'Uh oh.' Thor growled, shoving Jane gently in Tony's direction. He knew where Thor was coming from so Tony pushed Jane into the same corner as his wife, shielding them both with his body. Thor tackled his brother to the ground.

"Do not touch her." He spat in his adoptive brother's face. Loki hardly flinched and Thor climbed off of him.

"Lady Pepper and Lady Jane do not have anything to do with this. Let me take them away-"

"Silence." Loki barked. "Those women are the only thing keeping you from attacking me." Pepper whimpered into Tony's shoulder.

"Coward." Tony snapped, squeezing Pepper's hand in reassurance. He cackled evilly, shooting a stream of blue light at the angry billionaire. Tony's body smashed into the wall leaving both girls vulnerable.

"Well, if it isn't the lady that captured my 'brother's'" he spat the word in her face, "heart." She stood tall, hissing under her breath as he reached out to touch her.

If Natasha had blinked, she would've missed what happened next; Thor tackled Loki to the ground again, Loki blasted him into the opposite wall, aimed his scepter at the cowering women, Bruce hulked out, throwing his large green body between Loki and the girls. He scooped both Pepper and Jane into his arms, backing into the wall, leaving a crumbled mess in his wake as he took them out of harm's way.

"You would threaten two unarmed women?" Thor boomed angrily as he picked himself off the ground. Clint and Natasha were beyond furious. Natasha reached under the tulle skirt of her dress, pulling a small handgun from the holster on her upper thigh. She pointed the gun at Loki's head.

"Why are you here?" She asked acidly.

"I wanted to pay the newlyweds a visit." He answered innocently. She reloaded her gun. At the click he easily put his hands up.

"Why are you here?" she asked again. Natasha was the only armed one in the room and because of that, he laughed.

"I'd love to see one irate diminutive Russian girl try to take me on." He scoffed. Clint face palmed. Again, 'Uh oh.' That ignorant god, not only ruined the Black Widow's wedding day, he was now goading her on. Within thirty seconds, Loki was pinned to the ground with Natasha's knees pinning his arms to the ground, and her hand pressed down on his throat.

"Now, why are you here?" She growled in his face. He laughed, his eyes glinting mischievously. She pressed down harder on his throat.

"To take back what belongs to me." He coughed, shooting a fleeting glance at Clint. Hawkeye now looked completely frozen. She waited until her husband met her eyes before conveying to him that Loki was only trying to unhinge them. He nodded, stepping away. "And you're going to help me get it!" he shouted in her face before blasting her off of him.

Loki advanced on her with his scepter in hand. She rolled out of the way as he attempted to press the tip to her heart. She anticipated his next move and was up in the air before his weapon could knock her feet out from under her. The heel of her shoe made contact with his cheekbone, causing him to stumble back a bit. She approached him, ready to take him down while he cleared his head. But as his head snapped up, green eyes glittering with victory, she realized he'd tricked her. He knocked her on her back, spear pressed to her stomach.

Steve had run out after the Hulk to make sure he didn't hurt the women. Thor was frozen with betrayal. The auras from the weapon were messing with Clint's mind. His eyes were flickering back and forth between shades of blue. As far as she knew, Tony was still out cold. She was on her own. Loki slid the glowing scepter towards her heart, ready to reform her mind like so many others had done. Before Loki could go through with it though, Tony slammed into him, taking the god to the floor.

"You've got to stop doing that to people." Loki sighed in an authoritative tone.

Tony got up off the god, and backed into the flank of the teammates surrounding him; Natasha, Steve had rejoined them, and Thor. The Hulk was still with the women, wherever that may be, and Clint was still battling his mind. Natasha stood in the middle, gun pointed to his face.

"Urgent call from Director Fury, sir." Jarvis called.

"Thank you Jarvis." Natasha ignored Tony's reply of what was surely 'we're not home'.

"Agent Romanoff, we've got a situation. It seems-" he began in a professional tone.

"Loki has escaped and come after the Avengers, Agent Barton particularly." Natasha cut him off angrily. "The situation is under control. Send in a containment team." Then on second thought, she added, "Now." She didn't feel like being nice to her Director. That man's people had been responsible for the containment of Loki. And because they had gotten lazy, her wedding party had been crashed. She had no reason to be nice to these people.

She glanced at Clint who looked like he was losing the battle against the Tesseract. "Shut it down." She ordered angrily. Loki snapped his fingers and the light died down. Clint collapsed with the power.

"Oh, I was right Miss Barton. This is love." He laughed, looking at her ring.

"Great observation skills." She snapped, pointing the gun at his mouth.

The containment team arrived minutes later, cuffed and muzzled the god before taking him away. Natasha rushed over to Clint and helped him off the floor.

"Again. He did it again." Clint whispered to her.

"But you fought it this time." She replied, leaning her forehead against his.

"I must retrieve Lady Jane." Thor announced, taking off through the door for once. Thor returned later that night after flying Jane home. Soon after the others had cleaned up the apartment, Bruce walked through the door, Pepper cradled in his arms. Tony ran forward and took his now awake wife from the man who had saved her. He set her gently on the ground and pulled her into his arms. He buried his face in her neck while repeating 'I'm so sorry.' over and over.

Eventually, the debris from the fight had been cleared and everyone sat down on the couches. Tony sat down on one, one arm hooked around the back of the couch, the other tangling and disentangling itself in Pepper's strawberry blonde hair. Pepper lay asleep on the couch with her head in Tony's lap. Today would've been enough to make any pregnant woman sleep for months. But she was married to Anthony Stark. She'd had more stressful days.

Tony was in awe, in a-none conceited way, at how far he had come. Years ago, he was a narcissistic, egotistical, arrogant, playboy. He was still snarky, and sarcastic, but not because he was trying to be a pain, because that's who he was. But he sat, in _his _tower, with _his _family, and _his _wife in his lap who was carrying _his _child. And he liked it- No, he loved it. He loved his family, his wife, and his unborn child. He loved it all.

Thor still barely understood this planet, but he had the Avengers' to help and explain that of which was unclear. And he had Jane. It still hurt that Loki had betrayed his family, and his father had locked Loki in prison without a second thought; he had been deceived by his own family. His new friends helped him deal with that, Jane included. His relationship with his family would be mended eventually, but until then he still had his team.

Steve was sprawled out over the third couch, asleep. One leg hooked over the back, another dangling over the arm rest, one hand touching the floor and the other behind his head. Jane, Pepper, and Natasha made him miss Peggy. But he had a family whom he loved, and who loved him. He was going to have a nephew in three months. And he had married two members of his family today. And he'd see Peggy again eventually.

Bruce of course, was sitting up in the only chair in the circle of couches, reading a book with his glasses pushed halfway down his nose. He was only absently looking at the words though. Bruce was thinking about how years ago, he was alone, in a random country, in the middle of nowhere, researching new ways to destroy the Other Guy. Now, he had accepted the Hulk as part of him and he was part of a team and a family, in New York.

Clint and Natasha were curled up on another couch. Clint used his elbow to prop himself up against the arm rest, while Natasha leaned against him. His other arm was wrapped tightly around her shoulders. Natasha's head rested against her husband's chest while she spun the wedding ring around her finger. They had to admit, the day hadn't been completely ruined. Loki had dampened the mood considerably but at the end of the day, they were still married.

In the end, the Avengers would be ok. They had each other's backs. They cared about each other. And that was something some of them had never had growing up. The Avengers family was unbeatable. Before, they were strong, but they were scattered, hateful, independent- Unassembled. Then they were a team, and they were stronger. But now, they were a family, they worked together, they loved each other and they were dependent upon each other-

They were Assembled.

The End

Epilogue

Seven year old T.J. Stark had made the big mistake of attempting to hit on Clint and Natasha's six year old daughter. Again. Aleksandra sighed, gripped the doomed boy's arm and flipped him over onto his back, pinning him to the living room floor. You'd think Tony's son would've learned by now, messing with Aleks got him hurt. That girl was the daughter of two of the most feared assassins in the world. Clint had taught her marksmanship and Natasha had taught her… everything. Combine that with the standing death threat that anyone who hurt her would have six angry super-heroes to deal with and that girl was a weapon all by herself.

Pepper was a mixture between angry with her husband for being a bad influence, amused by the six year olds strength, and worried about her son.

"T.J. honey, you ok?" Pepper called, slipping her niece a high five. Aleks pushed her shoulder length black hair out of her face, revealing her dad's blue-grey eyes, grinning at her mom who also gave her a high five. Natasha pulled her daughter into her lap, running her fingers through the little girl's hair. T.J. groaned, but nodded at his mom who, once she had been convinced that her son was ok, hurried to the kitchen to check on dinner.

"At least I'll never have to worry about boys." Clint chuckled, kissing the top of his daughter's head.

"Your kid beat mine up. Again!" Tony whined from the couch, inspecting his son for injuries.

"T.J. instigated it, Tony." Bruce called fairly.

"And she did warn him to back off." Steve added. Tony huffed, lifting the seven year old up onto the couch next to him. Aleks slipped off her mom's lap, waving her favorite uncle over. Steve raised his eyebrows and moved over to his niece. She widened her eyes hopefully and he sighed.

"Sure, Leks, why not." He groaned. Sparring with that fierce little girl was almost like fighting her mom, except worse; she was smaller, and slipped past him easier. And it was hard for him, fighting a little girl. Plus, if he hurt her, Clint and Natasha would hang his head above the fire place in their room.

"Before dinner, honestly Steve?" Pepper sighed as the little Russian girl got into her fighting stance. "Please don't break the T.V. again. We only have so many replacements." She called from the stove. Aleks' eyes flashed in a way that was completely her mother's. She waved him on. The super-soldier took a deep breath and advanced on the child. Natasha leaned against Clint, smirking. He mirrored her expression, watching Aleks with amused eyes. She may look like him, but she was her mother all the way.

Aleks rolled through Cap's legs, as his arm shot out to 'punch' her. He could already tell before he let his arm fly that he'd miss. The moment she got behind him, both her parents knew the fight would be short. Aleks kicked Steve's knees from behind, causing him to fall to the ground. She came up behind him with her arm in a would-be death grip around his neck.

"Dead." She smirked triumphantly.

"That's my girl." Clint called from the couch.

"Good job Leksi." Natasha praised, kissing Aleksandra's forehead. The little girl climbed up on her mom's lap, leaning her head against Natasha's chest. The red head stroked her daughter's hair, mumbling Aleks' Russian lullaby. T.J. and Aleksandra had gotten up earlier than usual to make breakfast for their family. The kitchen had been a train wreck when the adults had joined the children. There was a layer of flour on every possible surface, including the kids' faces as they stood sheepishly in the middle of the mess. The men had excused themselves so that they wouldn't laugh, giving their impressionable children the illusion that what they did was ok. Pepper and Natasha stared down the seven and six year old until they confessed and apologized. The 'cousins' may've acted like they hated each other, but those two were best friends and partners in crime.

Because of all the energy they spent wrecking the Avengers' Tower Kitchen, the poor kids were tired. Aleks was fighting her exhaustion; Natasha blamed their child's sleeplessness on her husband. The Hawk never slept, influencing their child. T.J. on the other hand was out like a light; the thrum of his dad's arc reactor lulled the boy to sleep no matter what. Natasha stood up with Aleksandra in her arms, laying her in Clint's lap before heading off to help Pepper with dinner.

An hour later, Thor pounded on the front door, with Jane by his side. The couple had only returned from their honeymoon mere hours before. Pepper had demanded that they come home for dinner the night they got back. At the echoing boom, both children jerked awake, T.J. with a look of annoyance that was so stunningly like his mother's after Tony blows up the lab, and Aleks' poised for an attack. Clint patted his daughter's back reassuringly.

"Hello my friends!" he shouted through the tower. T.J. groaned banging his head against his dad's chest. The girls, including Aleks, smiled sweetly at the loud man. Aleksandra jumped off her dad's lap, rushing over to hug her uncle. He caught her in his arms, lifting his niece up in the air. "Hello defender of mankind." He greeted. The girl rolled her eyes.

"Uncle Thor…" she whined. He looked questioningly at the girl. "I've told you before. My name is Aleksandra. It _means _'defender of mankind' in Russian." She repeated to the god in a calm manner, completely unlike that of a normal six year old.

"My apologies Miss Aleksandra." He apologized, again, kissing his niece's head before putting her down. "Hello Tony Jr." Thor grinned.

"It's T.J." the seven year old snapped. Thor blinked, giving up.

"Dinner!"Pepper called, rescuing the god. Thor led his new wife to the dining table, sitting down next to her. Aleks' sat quietly next to Thor, Clint next to her, Natasha beside him, Steve on her left, Bruce in between Rogers and Stark in case there was cause to break up the usual argument, T.J. sat between his parents, directly across from Aleks. Pepper set the final plate on the table before sitting beside her son and Jane.

The group had turned out ok, just like they had predicted. Thor and Jane were happily married. Thor had mended the relationship with his blood family. Jane had eventually become a well-known scientist. Steve had moved on from the death of his friends. Natasha had been right. He never forgot them and never would. Bruce had long since learned to appreciate the Hulk. It had save various members of his family on multiple occasions. Tony was beyond happy with his life. He had a large, supportive family. He had a son, a wife, a niece, and his team. Pepper continued to be the mother hen of the group; she kept them in line to the best of her ability. Clint and Natasha were happier then they'd ever been. Years ago, having a family was all but a myth to the pair. Now they had a beautiful daughter whom even Fury found himself proud of, even though he had no part in her upbringing. Fury was both children's godfather. He had protested for months but the parents had ignored it, they knew he was honored.

Fury and Coulson had brought together the strangest, craziest, most messed up family of the century. But they were also the closest family. They had withstood evil gods, aliens, super-villains and more, yet they remained closer than ever.

And as they looked in each other's eyes at that dinner table, they knew they always would be.


	3. Save

**SAVE**

Aleksandra Barton and T.J. Stark sat on either side of Tony, listening intently to the story of his capture. He had responsibly skipped over the horrible parts including his torture; no one, including Pepper and himself, needed to hear that. Pepper sat on the adjacent couch, rocking the couple's four month old daughter, watching Tony with a look the clearly instructed that he keeps the tale as vague as possible. Natasha was focused on her daughter's unfazed expression. She half expected the seven year old to be suddenly terrified, yet the assassin's daughter remained mainly emotionless aside from the slight tint of childish excitement. Clint was asleep with his head in the red head's lap. His last solo mission had drained him of all energy; he had chased a group of men, who SHIELD had seen as a possible threat, through the deserts of Saudi Arabia for three days straight, completely weighed down with all of his gear and a bullet wound to the leg. Steve was sitting silently in a stool at the bar, relentlessly polishing his shield as he always did when he was bored or nervous. Bruce was glued to his lap top as usual. The insistent 'tap, tap' of his fingers on the keys had become permanent white noise in the Tower. Jane was currently back in New Mexico to gather some more data for a project she was working on. Thor sat on the floor, gently, ever so gently, playing with Clint and Natasha's two year old son.

Tony had made more than enough comments to Jane and Thor about when _they _would start having kids. Steve would always glare disapprovingly at the billionaire when the god would glance away and blush, then Bruce would chastise the two men, and Clint and Natasha would laugh.

Tony finished the story with his son and his niece asleep, leaning against either side of him.

Tony was just starting to doze off, Pepper had finally gotten Avery, their restless daughter, to fall asleep, even two year old Phillip had finally conked out on his Uncle Thor's chest when Jarvis' quiet voice rang out through the room.

"Director Fury-" the electric voice started.

"Not now Jarvis." Natasha hissed at the AI.

"My system is being overridden." he informed before Fury's loud voice replaced Jarvis'.

"The council has requested that the Avengers tend to an is-" the Director began loudly. Both women in the room shushed him but it was too late; Aleks and Clint jumped awake. Natasha pulled Clint back down before he could punch anyone; Aleks startled both Tony and T.J. awake. Phillip woke when Avery started to cry. Pepper huffed angrily, and began bouncing her daughter again while Natasha fired a long string of Russian curses at the loud man who had caused the chaos the living room had been launched into.

"What do you want?" Clint groaned as Natasha retrieved her son from a very confused Thor.

"This is what happens when my best team turns into… whatever this is!" Fury ranted. "Avengers. Quinjet. Twenty minutes." He grumbled, disconnecting the call. Natasha automatically handed Phillip off to Pepper and the six members of the Initiative retreated to their bedrooms to suit up.

Once the whole team was waiting for the Quinjet on the roof, Pepper, both babies in her arms, and Aleksandra and T.J. joined their family on the roof. Each of the men kissed Aleks goodbye, the girl hugged her parents, T.J. hugged his dad, Tony kissed both Pepper and Avery goodbye before shooing them back inside as the Quinjet appeared overhead.

"At your three o'clock, Widow." Hawkeye's voice sounded over Natasha's comm. link. She somersaulted out of the way as Clint fired an explosive arrow at the robot behind her. Sneaking up behind another, she leaped onto its back, wrapped her legs around its neck and tore its mechanical head from its body.

"We're getting too old for this, guys." Tony joked. Steve, Clint, and Natasha laughed. "Anyone seen-" a bolt of lightning cracked through the sky. "Never mind." Somewhere in the distance, the Hulk's angry roar followed by its familiar, echoing, _smash_ could be heard. The last few robots advanced towards the three Avengers that remained on the ground. Thor was somewhere, lighting something up with his beloved hammer. Bruce was somewhere else, smashing everything to smithereens. And Tony circled above Captain America, Hawkeye and the Black Widow, shooting anything that they couldn't see. "Let's finish this. I miss my kids." Tony muttered seriously. Clint grunted in agreement.

"Hawkeye, you take the left, Widow, you take the right, I'll take anything straight ahead, Stark, you take… everywhere." The Cap ordered.

Within the hour, there were less than fifteen robots remaining when Jarvis put a message through to anyone on the team whose ear pieces hadn't been destroyed.

"I have detected unauthorized entrance to the Tower." The AI recited.

"Are you sure?" Tony checked, firing at another robot.

"Yes sir. It was you who programmed me, after all." Jarvis confirmed.

"Where are Pepper and the kids?" Clint interjected worriedly.

"I have put a call through to the NYPD. Mrs. Stark, and the 'kids'," he said, copying Clint's terminology. "…have been taken, Agent Barton." Natasha's eyes were the only thing giving away her worry, otherwise she looked completely unfazed, Clint's aim went considerably off target, and Tony's flight pattern faltered.

"EVERYBODY DUCK!" Clint yelled angrily. Once he scanned through his teammates, making sure they had followed his orders, he notched a sonic arrow and let it fly into the crowd of the robots they were fighting. The force of the explosion knocked Clint into a wall, and everything went black.

"Jarvis, play the security footage from the entrance point again." Tony ordered, frustrated. As Clint opened his eyes, he saw Natasha hovering over him, Bruce and the Cap hovering over Tony as he stared at the video, and Thor was on the phone in the opposite corner of the room.

"We snuck you out of the med bay. Fury's going to be angry." Natasha noted. Clint shrugged, taking the hand Natasha held out to him. He staggered a little bit as the blood rushed to his head. Looking at him, she raised her eyebrows in questioning if he was ok. He nodded and she led him to the computer three of the other men were huddled around. Barton pushed his way through. The second he laid eyes on the men in black as they dragged his children, his niece, nephew and Pepper out the door he was literally beginning to see red; his least favorite color. He forcibly switched himself into sniper mode, searching for anything that could help them get their family back. Thor joined them a few minutes later.

"Lady Jane is unharmed. I requested that she join Friend Darcy in her home, and not return to this Tower until I contact her again." Thor boomed informatively. "Here is your communication device." He held the phone out to Tony. The uncharacteristically silent billionaire took the cell phone wordlessly.

"Stop!" Clint ordered Jarvis. The tape paused. Hawkeye tapped the picture a few more times, zooming in on the man who was holding his daughter. "Nat, recognize these men?" He growled. Six months after Phillip was born, Hawkeye and Black Widow were sent on a mission to neutralize a threat in Bora Bora. Somehow, the enemy had found out about Aleks and Phillip. That had been a mistake on their part. The moment they went on about how after they killed Barton, they would find the kids and make Natasha watch as they killed them, the Black Widow took five of the men down single-handedly. The leader fled. The two agents had gone home and considered the mission completed. They had taken his weapons and his men, believing he would be to cowardice to come out from hiding without an army, yet here he was, kidnapping the worlds most feared, and idolized, team's family hostage.

Natasha locked eyes with him, a rare hint of guilt racing through her green eyes.

"Don't tell me." Stark began menacingly. "Another vendetta against our two favorite assassins?" he spat. "And my family is paying for it!" he hissed in Natasha's face. She stood her ground as he got angrier. "When we get them back, you and Barton are out of here." He growled.

"Stark!" Steve called after Tony as he stalked from the room. He glanced at Natasha and Clint with unneeded apology in his eyes. Clint shrank back, rubbing a hand across his face before turning back to the computer and watching the rest of the video.

Once the video had finished, Bruce recommended a meeting be held, with Fury and Hill included, discussing what could be done. In the last few hours Clint had noticed Natasha's control slipping. Minutes before the meeting, Clint grabbed her hand and pulled her behind closed doors. She looked up at him.

"This is exactly what I was afraid would happen… why I didn't want to have kids." She whispered. "They'd be used against us." He nodded in understanding, pulling her against his chest.

"We'll get them back Tasha." He promised. The stood there for a while before Natasha reminded him that they'd be late for the meeting. By the time they stepped into the hallway, the Black Widow's mask had returned.

The team sat down, waiting only for Stark. Eventually he showed up, walking over so he was directly across from the two SHIELD agents in the room.

"I just wanted to apolo-" Tony began. Clint waved him off.

"Honestly, I get it Stark. It's all good." Barton assured him.

"Thanks Robin Hood." He muttered before sitting down. Fury opened his mouth to speak but Stark cut him off. "Don't even." Tony warned. "If the words 'Told you so,' come out of your mouth…" for once, neither Steve nor Bruce corrected him. Fury began the briefing as the team settled in their seats, attempting to stay calm.

Aleksandra held tight to her brother as she and T.J. were tossed roughly into a small room. Pepper and Avery had been separated from T.J., Phillip, and Aleks, and locked away in a room close to the other children's. Aleks attempted to rock her brother before his crying attracted negative attention from their captors. T.J. searched the whole room for any possible exits but found nothing. As the sound of the door unlocking echoed through the small room, the eight year old boy quickly shoved his cousins into a corner and stood in front of them.

"Well, well, well. I've caught a little hero haven't I?" the man cackled. Aleks was vainly attempting to hush Phillip as he started to cry again.

"Where are my mom and sister?" T.J. demanded. The man shrugged.

"They may be dead. They may be alive." He stepped closer.

"T.J. move. He'll hurt you." Aleks hissed as the man motioned for Tony's son to move out of the way. But Tony's son was just that, not only was he defiant like his father, but he wouldn't leave a girl and a baby vulnerable for anything. So he stood his ground until their captor punched him in the stomach, sending him flying into the wall. Aleks stood tall, shifting Phillip behind her. "What do you want with us?" the dark haired girl demanded angrily.

"You're parents." He answered simply. The man lunged forward, snatching the boy from his sister. Aleks growled as her brother wailed in protest. Holding tight to the two year old, the man pulled a cell phone out with his other hand, shoving it in Aleks' direction. "Call them. Now." He ordered. The seven year old scanned the scene for possible ways to outsmart him, but she knew she couldn't, not with Phillip in his possession. T.J. was still unconscious in the corner so that meant she was on her own. She silently dialed Uncle Tony's number, getting progressively angry with the person holding Phillip. The ringing stopped.

"Uncle Tony?" Aleks called, hiding her panic with a layer of anger.

"Aleks?" he called back. "Where's-?" the man grabbed the phone, dropping Phillip to the ground. With a speed that belonged completely to her mother, she lunged forward, sliding underneath her brother, grunting when he landed in her stomach.

"Your children are quite the heroes." He laughed. She could hear her Uncle's angry voice rumbling through the speaker. "Hand over Barton and Romanov, and your family goes free." He hissed before hanging up. He stalked from the room, leaving Aleks to tend to T.J. She took off her sweatshirt, laid it on the floor, set Phillip down and rushed over to her cousin. She pulled his head in her lap and began shaking him gently.

"Mom?" he whispered groggily.

"No, T.J., it's Aleks." She replied. Reaching over him, she scooted the shirt up the eight year olds chest, grimacing at the blossoming purple bruise. She pressed a hand to his stomach, grimacing when he hissed in protest.

"Nothing's broken, Leks, I promise." He muttered. She nodded.

"How's your head?" she asked. He shrugged, with one hand at the base of his ribs he sat up against the wall.

"You and Phillip, ok?" he asked worriedly.

"For now." She grumbled.

"What about mom an Ave?" he asked half-heartedly. She shook her head sadly. He sighed. "What do they want?"

"Mom and dad." She whispered brokenly. He moved closer to her and put an arm around her shoulder; that was the Pepper in him.

"They're the greatest spies in SHEILD history, Leks. They'll figure it out. Plus, they've got dad, they'll get us back in no time." He smirked cockily, trying to cheer her up slightly. She smiled.

"I hope." She whispered, glancing over at her brother.

"Alright Star Spangled Man, what's our plan?" Tony addressed the tall blonde who was facing the wall.

"We don't have a choice. We can't attack while they have the kids. We give them Barton and Romanoff. Wait till they let the kids go, and then we attack. If they don't free them, we draw them out and fight." He stated.

"And why can we not perform the second option first?" Thor asked.

"It's a risky last resort. Aleks, T.J., Phillip, Avery, Pepper, they could get caught in the cross fire. They could be used as leverage against us. So many things could go wrong." he answered knowingly. "Suit up. We leave at 0300." He concluded, leaving the room.

Knowing the danger his nieces and nephews were in was making him sick. Somehow, Captain America had managed to let them get captured. At least that's what he thought as the unreasonable guilt raced through his mind.

Exactly fifteen minutes later, the whole team, Tony on time for once, boarded the jet, Barton as pilot, Romanoff, co-pilot. The other's slept, knowing they'd be no help to their family sleep-deprived. Natasha twirled her gun in her hand, praying that they'd get their children out in one piece. Clint covered her small hands and her gun with his. She let one of many guns fall between her legs, enveloping Hawkeye's hand in both of hers. He clenched his hand into a fist, his silent assurance.

Natasha woke hours later to Clint announcing they were ten minutes out. Steve came up and took Hawkeye's position as pilot. Cap's hands shook slightly as he closed his hands around the yoke. Clint paused and put his hand down forcefully on his friend's shoulder, giving him a meaningful look.

"Be safe my friends." Thor boomed through the jet. Hawkeye nodded his thanks.

Black Widow and Hawkeye deployed their parachutes as they free fell from the plane. They each detached a knife from one of their holsters. The moment they touched the ground, they cut the strings on their chutes and ran, leaving the Stark Industry parachutes on the ground behind them. They paused, hidden in the group of trees. Natasha wrapped her arms around his neck, kissing him quickly. He pulled away first, dropping her hand as they left their hiding place.

Aleks' head shot off of T.J.'s shoulder, and her arms tensed around her sleeping brother as the sound of the door unlocking echoed through their holding room. The two had barely enough time to get to their feet and shield Phillip before their captors burst into the room.

"Mom!" T.J. cried instinctively as two men led Pepper and her young daughter into the room.

"T.J., Aleks, Phillip, you're alright." Pepper sighed. T.J. lunged forward to hug his mother. The man who was holding onto Pepper yanked her backwards by her hair, away from her son. She yelped. T.J.'s eyes darkened angrily and he attacked the man closest to him. The eight year old wasn't near as good as his seven year old cousin but he had been trained by his five super hero uncles, his assassin aunt, and his weapon of a cousin. He could hold his own, even against a man three times his size. He also had an advantage; he was much smaller than his attacker.

"Stop." Another called from behind him. And it all came crashing down. He had no advantage. His skills were rendered useless because that one man had his best friend at gun point. T.J. released his hold on his opponent's neck and dropped to the ground, hands in the air.

"Let my brother go." Aleks ordered in choked voice. The man shrugged and let the wailing two year old fall to the floor.

"I stopped. Now let her go. She had nothing to do with it." T.J. reasoned carefully. The leader shrugged.

"True." The man agreed. T.J. relaxed as the man lowered the gun. His hand stopped moving when it was level with her waist and he pulled the trigger.

"NO!" T.J. yelled, lunging toward his cousin as she crumpled to the ground. The person T.J. had attacked landed his foot in the boy's already bruised ribs and sent him flying backwards; making that the second time in two and a half days T.J. had been knocked unconscious. Pepper angled her body so that Avery was hidden from the lunatics.

"They're just children!" she cried. "Why are you doing this?" They didn't answer. The three men just left the room silently, locking the door behind them.

"Teesh! Aleth!" Phillip cried worriedly, standing between both his injured family members. Pepper set her crying Avery down beside the confused two year old and made her way over to her bleeding niece.

"Phillip, go wake up T.J.." Pepper told the child in an excited voice, hoping that Phillip would get excited enough to play the 'game.' Clint and Natasha's son giggled, crawling over to his cousin, hitting him repeatedly. Pepper pressed her hands against the bleeding wound in her niece's side, trying to staunch the flow of blood. She was still trying to figure out why they had suddenly put her in the same room as them, and why they had done this to two _kids._ T.J. suddenly jerked awake, batting Phillip's hands away.

"Yeah, hi buddy." He grumbled. He went pale as he caught sight of Aleks. He stumbled over to her and pushed his mother's hands away. Pepper sat back, tears welling in her eyes as she watched Tony's son try to wake his best friend up. Phillip sat down next to Avery and watched, chanting 'Aleth?' over and over. Aleksandra Barton, a seven year old little girl, who had been through more in the last hour than anyone should ever have to, who had been shot minutes ago and probably should never have woken up, opened her eyes. T.J. Stark had never been happier to see the color grey in his life. "Hey Leks." He sighed, pushing his small hands against the gunshot.

"Hi." She choked, her eyes fluttering closed again.

"No, Aleks." T.J. ordered forcefully. "Let's play a game." He amended, determined to keep her alive.

T.J. held Aleks in his arms, her now blood soaked sweatshirt tied tight around her waist. He hadn't let her close her eyes since she'd opened them. She was pale and she was running a fever. But the bleeding had stopped. And if they were rescued soon, she would be saved. Pepper was curled around the babies in a corner, protecting them while they slept, praying, for both of the injured kid's sakes that Tony would save them soon.

"What's my favorite color?" T.J. asked the half-asleep girl in his arms for the hundredth time.

"Red." She slurred.

"What's your least favorite color?"

"Green."

"When's your birthday?"

"November 26."

"Mine?"

"March 13." She almost whimpered. "T.J., please. I won't die. Can I sleep for a little bit?" the child begged. She locked her faded icy eyes with his and he saw the pain and the need to escape for a little bit in them. Shoving away his fear that he would never see Aleks' eyes again, he nodded. She kissed the inside of his elbow, the only part of him she could reach without moving and gratefully close her eyes.

"Night, Leks." He whispered. If he could ignore the fact that he was coated in her blood, he could pretend that she was perfectly fine. So he did just that, leaned his head back against the wall, and drifted off as well, eager to get away from the pain of his broken rib.

"Ah! My dear friends. You made it!" Mathis, the leader of the group of kidnappers, shouted proudly, clapping his hands as Hawkeye and the Black Widow approached his door, hands up in reluctant surrender.

"Let the kids go, and we go quietly." Clint hissed.

"All but your boy." Mathis countered. Clint snarled.

"That wasn't the deal." Natasha added angrily.

"You're right. It wasn't. I promised _Stark _his family could go free. But I'm feeling nice today." He waved a hand behind him, and two men disappeared. "I'd like to keep _your _daughter, she has spirit, and she can fight. But if I keep her, she'll die. And I don't want to have to deal with that."

"What do you mean she'll die?" Natasha spat. They were both seething, fighting the urge to kill the man where he stood. But they needed to stick to the plan, or there may be more deaths than that family could bear. Mathis shrugged.

The two men returned, one carrying the limp and pale form both parents recognized as their daughter, the other, leading Pepper, who was carrying Avery, and T.J. out the door. Stark sighed in audible relief over comm.. Clint and Natasha's eyes both flashed furiously at the sight of their daughter. All control snapped and the assassins attacked. T.J. fought for Aleks, forcibly taking her from the now injured guard. He grabbed his mom's hand, quickly making sure she had a firm grip on Avery, pulling all the girls into a somewhat safe corner. He gently set Aleks down beside his mom, and bolted back into the fight despite his mother's protests. In the few minutes he had been gone, the remaining members of the Avengers team had joined the fight. His dad called his name repeatedly, but he ignored it, running back into the building to find Phillip who had been left in their holding cell.

Outside, Tony watched in confused horror as his son ran back into the building. But as his suit took a hit, he was forced to keep his mind in the battle. All the family members were dangerously distracted by their niece or daughter who was, by the looks of it, barely hanging on. Clint momentarily left Natasha's side, making his way over to Thor. He'd have liked to ask Tony, but he knew that there was no way Tony could be convinced to leave his family behind.

"Can you take Aleksandra to the Quinjet, Thor?" Clint shouted above the noises of gun fire. The big man stopped his hammer swinging and looks down at Hawkeye who couldn't, in that moment, be called anything but a worried dad. The blonde god nodded once, bounding over to where T.J. had hidden Aleks Barton.

Clint moved over to Natasha and both watched shortly as Thor took off with their daughter. T.J. emerged ten minutes later, a crying Phillip Barton encased in his eight year old arms. He carried him to the same corner as his mom. As the boy panicked, Pepper explained that Thor had taken Aleks to the Quinjet.

"You did very well, honey." Pepper praised, patting the spot next to her hopefully. The child groaned but his rib was still broken, and he was still exhausted, so he obediently dropped down beside his mother, hands pressed against his wounded ribcage.

Bruce watched from his hiding spot in the trees, he wouldn't be needed unless things went critical. He watched his family grow more and more sloppy in their worried distraction. He watched his nephew struggle for breath due to an injury he couldn't quite place. He watched the enemy plant knife in Clint's side, and imbed a bullet in the Captain's shoulder and the Other Guy couldn't take it anymore; Bruce Hulked out and joined the battle.

With the Hulk involved the battle was over in minutes. Smashed bodies littered the ground at the end of it all, a half naked Bruce Banner in the midst of everything. Bruce made a mental note to thank Tony once again for the _not _hideous stretchy pants he had created. The Cap and Hawkeye had both sunk to their knees on the ground, Steve leaning forward with his hands braced on the ground. Tony pulled Rogers' good arm over his metal shoulder and heaved him to his feet. Bruce had gone over to where Tony's family and Phillip were and was now carrying a passed out T.J., with Pepper trailing behind him. Tony was dying to get to them; to apologize and tell them he loved them, but Cap needed to get to the extraction point. Natasha forced Clint upright and removed his belt. She wrapped the leather band around his abdomen, tightening it to a point where Clint's fingers were locked in a death grip around Natasha's upper arm as a pain outlet.

"Sorry." She whispered sincerely. He shook his head. "Required extraction." She said into the comm. as she got her husband to his feet.

The eight year old sat beside his best friend's hospital bed, childish tears running down his face. He cursed each drop of water and held her pale hand tighter. Clint and Natasha hovered close enough that T.J. very nearly felt claustrophobic. She had lost a dangerous amount of blood. The doctor said there was still a chance she would wake up. But he was still scared. He also hadn't gotten to sleep since they'd gotten home. He also had had nothing but an ace wrap for his ribcage. He was also terrified that he hadn't done enough to save Aleks. He was also just a kid. His parents had begged, ordered, tempted, asked, and tried by force to get their son to leave her side to get some sleep, but they hadn't been able to move him in the slightest.

Clint and Natasha had stayed in the room since they had been allowed to see her. Clint often had to sit down as his knife wound hadn't healed yet. And at some point each day, fatigue knocked him out.

At some point, after Aleks had been out cold for two weeks and three days, her hand twitched from its permanent place in T.J.'s hand.

"Leks?" T.J. called softly, his head snapping to her face. Clint moved to walked forward, but was stopped by Natasha's firm hand on his bicep. She shook her head. "Aleks?" T.J. called again, running his hand up her white arm. After minutes of blinking against the light, a few more minutes that it took for her brain to remind the little girl what had happened, her eyes met T.J.'s. The boy sighed in relief, a small laugh leaving his lips. He leaned forward and kissed her forehead, leaving his lips planted on her skin longer than necessary. She squeezed his hand with as must strength as she could.

"Hi T.J.." she whispered.

"Hey Leks." He laughed. His smile faded. "I'm so sorry Aleks. So, so, sorry." He murmured. "If I hadn't attacked that guy, you wouldn't have gotten shot." He explained when she looked confused. She shakily lifted her arm out of his hand, and brought it against his cheek as hard as she could. He blinked, wondering if she really had just slapped him. "I deserved that." He muttered.

"You did." She agreed. "For thinking it was your fault, you stupid boy." She sighed. Clint was practically doubled over with laughter. In that moment, his daughter was so incredibly like his wife it was slightly terrifying. Natasha was glaring at him; a glare that would've made anyone but Clint scare to death. T.J. shook his head, about to protest when Clint decided to save his nephew the trouble.

"Hey baby girl." Clint exhaled.

"Hi daddy." She chirped. "Hey mom." Aleks smiled, as Natasha appeared beside Clint.

Natasha called everyone else in to come say hi to their now awake niece. By the time they arrived, Aleks had forced T.J. into the hospital bed with her as he refused to go a few floors up to sleep in his own bed. The look in her eyes warned him not to argue and he crawled into the white bed beside her, falling asleep almost instantly. Aleks sighed in a condescending way, just like her mother often did. By the time the rest of the family had crammed into the small room, Aleks had fallen asleep as well.

Clint wrapped an arm around his wife as the gazed at their daughter. They could just tell that those two would be inseparable from this day forward. And Clint didn't mind as much as he thought he would. He knew it was a mixture of many things that calmed him. One main factor being that they were only children. And another being that that boy had saved his daughter's life, whether T.J. admitted it or not.

Those children would have no problem living up to the legacy that was their parents. They already had. It awed the Avengers to think of how they could only get better with strength that came with age, more training, and a loving family. They'd be unstoppable.

T.J., who had spent his ninth birthday with Aleks in a hospital room despite her protests, hadn't left that very room once during the three weeks and four days that she was there. When she was finally released, T.J. was by her side 24/7. He made sure that when she got tired, she rested. He made sure she took her medicine when she was supposed to. He managed to do all this without making the girl feel helpless.

Pepper, Jane and Natasha had taken Avery and Aleks shopping a few weeks later. Aleks had been relatively surprised when T.J. hadn't argued with her mother when Natasha had suggested he stay home with the boys, on her birthday no less. T.J. was like his father in that aspect; he was cocky enough to argue with the Black Widow. Of course, the only person who could _win _an argument against her was Clint Barton. Sometimes. She became less confused when he winked at her. Natasha noticed and shot her nephew a death glare that should've had him running away with his tail between his legs.

A couple hours later, the girls came back. Pepper came through the door first, her asleep five month old in one arm, a shopping bag in the other. Jane came in second, weighed down with full shopping bags. Thor had learned what that meant years ago and he winced visibly at the sight of spent money, even if his friend was beyond rich.

"Surprise!" the whole family shouted as Natasha and Aleks appeared in the doorway. Aleks grinned and ran around the room, hugging each of her uncle's. She stopped in front of her dad. Clint had always been more emotional than Natasha so it was no wonder his daughter's younger years flashed through his mind as she looked up at him. He dropped to his knees so he could hug her on his level.

"Happy Birthday, baby girl." Clint whispered.

"Thanks daddy." She replied, pulling away and walking towards T.J.

"Happy birthday, Leks." T.J. whispered, hugging her too.

"Thank you." She said again before she ran over to both her aunts and mom, hugging them all. Natasha ghosted to the hallway, motioning for Aleks to follow her. Aleks raced after her mom, smiling at how thoughtful her family was.

In Aleks' room, her mom pinned her hair up in an elaborate style she had perfected after years of posing as a rich girl. Then the red head silently went to the closet and pulled out one of many dresses. But this one was new; it was silver with a lacy black bow just below her chest. It fell to just above her knees and would compliment her silvery eyes perfectly; Aleks grinned, knowing it was courtesy of her Aunt Pepper. Aleks smiled thankfully at her mom and raced to the bathroom to change. Natasha leaned against the wall, arms crossed over her chest as she waited.

Minutes later, Aleks opened the door, walking into the room.

"You look gorgeous, Mëд." Natasha promised, pushing gracefully off of the wall.

"Thanks мама." Aleks replied. Natasha watched as her daughter walked silently to the closet, picked out a pair of shoes, painted her lips with a small amount of pale lip gloss and turned to her mom, nodding that she was ready.

Aleks walked down the short staircase, looking at the floor as she stepped off the last step. Natasha called her name quietly, elbowing Clint and muttering something along the lines of 'she got that from you', in referring to the occasional self consciousness. Clint shrugged, happy to take part in any of the beautiful girl's traits. Aleks glanced up momentarily at her name but quickly looked back down when she caught sight of T.J.'s gaping mouth.

"Close your mouth, son. She'll kick your butt." Steve warned in T.J.'s ear. Images of the little girl his friend used to be, knocking him on his back flashed through his mind and abruptly shut his mouth.

Jarvis began playing music, dimming the lights and dropping the disco ball. Clint had pulled Natasha onto the dance floor, T.J. was still staring, Tony had started dancing with Pepper, Thor with Jane, and Phillip was attempting to get Avery to dance, that left Bruce, Steve, and the birthday girl. The men looked to each other in silent agreement; Bruce first. The doctor headed towards the blushing eight year old and held his hand out to her, slouching a little to try and make eye contact. The girl placed her small hand in her uncle's large one and let him pull her onto the dance floor.

"Happy birthday, Aleks." Bruce wished again. Aleksandra smiled in gratification.

"You guys didn't have to go all out, it's just my eighth birthday, nothing special." She muttered as she flew seamlessly across the floor, just like her mother, while Bruce stumbled over his own feet. Bruce ignored her comment and continued to trip repeatedly until the song ended. He leaned down and kissed the top of her head, nodding his head politely as Cap took his place. Aleks climbed up on his feet, giggling as her godfather started to spin around the room. As her only eligible dance partner, aside from T.J., Aleks loved dancing with Steve, he was good. And he always told her the story of him and Peggy; his dance partner. And then he would finish by saying he had finally found a suitable alternative in the assassin's daughter.

"Can I cut in?" T.J. asked from behind the Captain.

"Of course, son." Steve answered, bowing low in front of the girl and retreating to the bar.

"May I have this dance?" T.J. asked, holding his hand out to Aleks.

"So formal," she teased, in her mother's tone. The boy shrugged. "Of course." She answered, gingerly letting her hand fall into her best friend's. He lifted it up and let it rest on his shoulder, taking the other to match. She locked her hands together around his neck, her cheeks coloring slightly as they always did when he gently touched his hands to her waist.

"You look beautiful by the way, Leks." He commented as another song started. Aleks glared a little at Jarvis (the ceiling) when a slow song began.

"Thanks." She replied, as their dance started. They were the second most captivating dancers, second only to the master assassins themselves. It was even more so impressive because they were children. The other's cleared the floor eventually, to get a better view of the dance.

The spun flawlessly in the center of the dance floor, sharing a meaningful glance when it became clear the song was almost over. T.J. lifted her into the air and dropped her gracefully to the floor. Clint turned to Tony and raised his eyebrows in shock. Tony shrugged proudly, pulling Pepper against his side. As the song's last few notes played through the speakers, T.J. wrapped an arm tight around her waist, dipping her until her hair brushed the hard wood floor. She smiled up at him as the adults began clapping. T.J. slid his hands down her arms, gripped her wrists and pulled her upright. He bowed, kissing the back of her hand, his eyes reflecting the implied mocking of the gesture.

Natasha bent over and picked up sleepy Phillip in one arm, and tightened her other around Clint's waist.

"We did ok, you know." He murmured, gazing at their daughter. She thoughtfully watched the girl, who was a spitting image of her father, and then she shifted her gaze down to her now sleeping son.

"So far." She admitted. He laughed, leaning down and kissing Natasha. Eventually, when Aleks had paled considerably, and the family was starting to note the way she leaned in slightly trying to compensate for the growing discomfort of her stitches, the birthday party had come to a close, and T.J. had forced Aleks onto the couch.

When Natasha carried Phillip to bed, Clint leaned against the wall and looked at his daughter. She had fallen asleep leaning against T.J.'s shoulder and he had fallen asleep with his cheek pillowed on her head. The edges of Clint's lips twitched upwards; he realized he could add T.J. to the ever growing list of people who would protect Aleksandra.

Pepper leaned over the back of the couch, kissed the top of T.J.'s head and flipped a blanket out over them, smiling warmly at Clint before following Tony out of the room.

"You should be proud, Clint." Bruce muttered as he walked by. The man addressed, shot a grateful smile at the doctor.

"You did good Barton." Steve added truthfully. Clint's eyes darkened suddenly.

"So people keep saying. She's only eight and I almost lost her. Phillip is two and I almost lost _him. _How is that 'good'?" Clint whispered. Steve sighed.

"You did almost lose them. It took you eight years with Leks though, that's pretty good for a couple of assassins. And we'll always get them back. Always. I can promise you that, Barton. She's the closest thing to a daughter I'll ever have. I'm not letting her go that easy." Steve admitted somewhat sheepishly. The archer looked at him, slightly taken aback. It had been obvious that Cap had always thought of Aleks as more than a friend's kid; they all did. But Clint never knew that his adoration went that far.

"Thanks Rogers." Clint replied. Steve nodded in acknowledgement and left. Hawkeye heard a clap of thunder and knew Thor had taken off to take Jane home. He pushed off the wall, and made his way to his son's room where he would always eavesdrop on Natasha's Russian singing to the baby.

Pepper groaned, rolling over as her daughter's cried echoed in their sound proof room. She moved to sit up. Tony clamped his hand down on her upper arm.

"I got her." He grumbled.

"No, Tony, what if you get a mission tomorrow. Go back to sleep." she ordered.

"You have a meeting in the morning. I win. _You _go to sleep, Pep." He argued, getting out of bed. Pepper childishly raced him to the door, but he was ready for that; He caught her in his arms, tossing her on the bed. "See you in a minute." He grinned triumphantly, winking at her. She rolled her eyes, pulled _his _red and gold Iron Man shirt down over _his _boxers, that _she _wore more often than not, and sank down under the covers, falling back asleep almost instantly.

Tony walked through the bathroom, coming out the other side into Avery's bedroom. He picked up the wailing five month old, rocking her in his arms as he walked around the large bedroom. After five minutes of rocking her to no avail, he softly forced the pacifier into her mouth, sighing in relief when it worked; he really hadn't wanted to wake Pepper. He plopped down in the rocking chair, moving it back and forth. Whether he admitted it to Pepper or not, Tony really was tired. The billionaire observed his daughter's tuft of strawberry blonde hair and brown eyes. Everything about her, besides the darker brown color of her eyes that belonged to her father, she got from Pepper. Tony was secretly grateful for that; he loved being able to look at her and see the Pepper in her. He couldn't see it in T.J., except sometimes in his personality. Everything about T.J. was Tony; his hair, his eyes, his nose, his outer personality. Tony had found it somewhat humorous when he realized only Aleksandra Barton could bring out the Pepper in him.

His daughter's tiny eyelids drifted closed and he smiled genuinely; he loved his family.

Thor crashed into the ground, doing his best, as always, to absorb all of the impact so that Jane didn't get hurt.

"You know you may stay at the Tower of the Avengers with our friends and myself," Thor checked for the hundredth time.

"I know. But what about Darcy and Erik." She reminded him gently.

"I am certain they may come as well." He said hopefully.

"Thor…" Jane whispered doubtfully, reaching up to place her hand against his cheek.

"In all honesty, love. Why is it you do not want to live in the 'Tower'?" he asked.

"I… I'm not sure." She answered, looking at the ground.

"Will you attempt to come and live there?" he asked with pleading eyes, forcing her to look up at him. She sighed; she was helpless against his puppy dog eyes.

"I'll try." She agreed. He smiled a smile that was borderline manic, kissing Jane full on lips. He carried her into the small house, not once breaking their kiss. "You know, I feel slightly bad for Steve." She said suddenly. Thor looked at her with a completely bewildered look. "He owes Tony forty dollars." Thor still looked down at her, confused."They had a bet on when I would get pregnant. Tony bet within the year. Steve bet next year." She explained, hoping the sometimes oblivious god would catch on. Thor blinked a few times, his mouth falling open. Jane rolled her eyes, kissing him again.

"And, Stark won the bet?" he asked cautiously. She nodded. He smiled. Jane smiled and they fell asleep with Jane wrapped protectively in his arms.

Steve's water sprayed out of his mouth and Tony held out his hand, smirking cockily.

"Pay up Stars and Stripes." Tony ordered. Steve fished in his back pocket and fumbled with his wallet, until he produced forty dollars and held it out to Tony, blushing a bright shade of red.

"Congratulations." He stammered. Thor grinned brightly.

"Thank you, my friend."

"Good for you Big Guy, you too Jane." Hawkeye added. Natasha nodded and offered the couple a warm smile. A genuine warm smile, and it was enough to bring tears to Jane's eyes. Tony scoffed.

"Good luck with her Pikachu." He smirked in reference to the tears. "But really, congrats you guys." He declared after he sobered up. Jane's glared softened and she smiled. Pepper launched herself at Jane and hugged her.

"We're going shopping for maternity clothes." The strawberry blonde announced. Natasha groaned quietly so only Clint could hear. He shot her a look that she clearly recognized as 'Sucks for you.' The slight narrowing of her eyes shut him up. Thor's eyes widened.

"Is it truly necessary for you to buy more articles of clothing this early?" he asked somewhat frantically.

"No Thor, it's not." Tony agreed. "No shopping. Yet." Tony amended at his wife's glare.

"And you're finally moving in?" Bruce spoke. Jane nodded slowly.

"On the condition that Darcy and Erik can stay when necessary?" she said.

"Of course." Steve spoke up before Tony could.

"Congratulations, Thor, Jane." Bruce offered, smiling a little at the glowing god. "You coming, Stark?" He added, standing up.

"Course doc." Tony replied, standing up. Pepper grabbed the bottom of his hundred dollar jacket. "We're testing some stuff." He answered the unspoken question, vaguely.

"I swear Tony Stark, if you blow up the lab one more time…"

"See you later, Pep." He yelled over his shoulder as he bolted after the doctor. Pepper shook her head.

"I am taking Lady Jane out to celebrate, we will return later." Thor boomed, leading Jane out the front door.

"Where're the kids?" Pepper asked as she settled comfortably into the couch.

"Training room. They're sparring." Natasha answered. Pepper nodded. Just as the tired woman had started to relax, the baby monitor (her phone, courtesy of none other than her husband) went off.

"What's up with Ave?" Clint asked concernedly. Pepper shrugged uncharacteristically and walked to the elevator. A few minutes later, T.J. and Aleks stepped off the elevator.

"How was your work out, kids?" Hawkeye called to them.

"Good. T.J. actually got a punch in this time." Aleks smirked.

"Not my fault your mom is _The Black Widow!_" the boy argued. Aleks nudged him with her shoulder. She leaned against the wall while he continued to walk into the kitchen. He reached into the cabinet next to the mini fridge and tossed Aleks two bottles. She caught both, barely looking at either. T.J. grabbed her bottle of water, taking a drink as he made his way back over to her. The Hawk watched from his seat, reading the label with unnaturally good eyesight.

"Stitches?" he asked his daughter. She shrugged, downing both pills in one swallow.

"Let me have a look, Mëд." Natasha called, leaning forward on the couch. Aleks came towards her mom, lifting her shirt up in the process. The red head gently ran her hand over the healing stitches. "They look fine Aleks. They still bother you?"

"Sometimes." The girl admitted.

"Want to have Uncle Bruce take a look?"

"No thanks, мама. I'm sure it's fine." Natasha looked into her grey eyes and nodded. Aleks and T.J. turned to leave.

"Aleks, do you know where your brother is?" Clint added.

"Yeah. Uncle Tony said he wanted to spend some time with his nephew and took him." Both parents exchanged knowing furious glances and were halfway down the staircase to the lab before T.J. could blink.

"ANTHONY STARK WHAT ARE YOU DOING WITH MY KID?!"Clint shouted as they ran into the lab. Natasha's eyes flashed angrily as she took in the scene before her; her son was sitting on a metal table with what looked like miniature repulsors strapped to his small legs.

"Now, now, Spidey. Let me explain." Natasha looked to Clint for permission. Clint stepped back, giving her free reign over the situation. In minutes, Bruce was trying to haul the Black Widow off of his fellow scientist who was choking for breath right now.

"Get those, off of my son." She ordered in a terrifyingly quiet voice. Tony sat on the floor like a stubborn child, so Bruce, fearing for his friend's life, headed towards the two year old and removed the repulsors. Clint swept his son into his arms and stalked from the room, Natasha in his wake. "What part of 'no Iron Man suit for either of the boys does that man not understand?" the assassin asked rhetorically. Phillip was giggling at his mother's angry expression.

"I know, kid. Angry mommy is funny, isn't it? Don't make the same mistake I did. She cut my arm open with a spoon, which she _threw, _last time I laughed." Clint explained to the two year old. Miraculously, the boy stopped laughing. "Good idea, bud."

Pepper stalked back and forth across the room, Avery in her arms. Avery hadn't stopped crying since she had woken up. And Pepper hadn't sat down since then.

Tony and Bruce appeared and hour later.

"Take her!" Pepper plead, shoving her daughter into Tony's arms, and stomping away. T.J. walked into the room just as his mother left in an angry rampage. The boy held his arms out;

"Good luck, dad." He scoffed. Tony groaned, handing the baby to her brother. Phillip was seated on his mom's knees while she bounced him. His bright red hair flopped up and down along with the motion. His green eyes lit up as he giggled, making Natasha crack a small smile. Clint slept leaning against the couch's arm rest. He and Natasha had had a silent argument about whether or not he should go to sleep. Natasha won. He had only been out for an hour when his phone went off. Clint immediately began scrambling for it.

"Hello?" he called groggily, running a hand over his face.

"Agent Barton," Nick Fury greeted.

"Sir," Clint replied dutifully.

"Surveillance mission, North Carolina, you leave in an hour." The Director informed.

"Yes sir." Clint confirmed, picking himself up off the couch. Natasha stood up as well, still bouncing Phillip on her hip. "Fury." Clint explained. Natasha pursed her lips.

"Shoot straight." She instructed, leaning in for a quick kiss before he left.

"Всегда делать." He called over his shoulder as he left to suit up.

Doctor Banner had flown to Kabul for the day. Thor had to return to Asgard to tell his mother and father the good news regarding Jane. Jane had gone somewhere with Darcy for the day. Steve had gone to Brooklyn for the day. Clint was still on his mission. And Tony and Pepper had gone on a date, leaving Natasha to babysit T.J., Aleks, Phillip, and Avery.

At the moment, she was feeding Avery with the bottle propped up against her shoulder in one arm, and rocking Phillip in the other. T.J. and Aleks had gone off who knows where, most likely to the shooting range; T.J. loved watching her shoot for reason's unbeknownst to anyone. Minutes later, when Phillip was just beginning to fall asleep and Avery was just calming down, a distant shout echoed in her ears. That was followed by Jarvis' telling her that the Tower had been breached once again. Natasha dropped both babies into one crib, bolted out the door, locking it behind her as she raced toward the shooting range. She loaded her gun as she ran. In retrospect, bursting in on the Avengers' kids in a _shooting range_ wasn't a good idea, but she thanked God that T.J.'s hands were shaking to bad to aim straight.

"He took her." He mumbled vaguely. "He took her _again. _I shot at him but he got away. I let her go again." He ranted, tears threatening to spill down the child's face. Natasha dropped to her knees.

"T.J., it's ok. I need you to focus T.J. Who took her?" Natasha asked seriously.

"The same one that took her last time without me being able to do anything about it." The boy spat.

"T.J., go upstairs to Ave's room, give Jarvis the code to unlock it, lock it again, and stay there with the kids. Call your parents and tell them what happened." The agent ordered.

"Where're you going, Auntie Tasha?"

"I'm going to go find Leks." She kissed the top of the little boy's head. "Be safe and do as I said." T.J. watched his aunt go before following orders.

"4482." He shouted at Jarvis. T.J. listened for the tell tale sound of the heavy metal bolt sliding out of the way, slipping in the door when it swung open. "Lock door." He ordered.

"Right away, sir." And the door clanged shut.

"Call dad." The dial tone sounded over the speaker's. "Confine conversation to this room."

"Yes, sir."

"Hey, little man, everything ok?" Tony called. T.J. picked up both the kids and did his best to rock them. "Why're the kids crying?" Pepper interceded. "And where's Auntie Tasha?"

"She went after Aleks. Can you come home?"

"What do you mean she went after Aleks?" Tony cut in.

"We'll be home in ten minutes, honey." Pepper replied, ignoring her husband. T.J. could already hear the car's engine revving.

"Thanks mom." And the line went dead. T.J. sank down in a corner, rocking back and forth as both babies continued to cry. Then T.J. thought of how he had failed Aleks once again. He laughed darkly at the revelation that she would slap him right now if she were here. The smile faded; but she _wasn't _here, and that was his fault.

Natasha's dialed Hawkeye's number as she swung herself through the window of Tony's fastest car.

"Barton," Clint called informatively.

"Aleks was taken. Again." Natasha choked into the speaker.

"What?" Clint muttered darkly.

"Going after her now, hurry up with that mission Barton."

"I will. Be careful, Tasha."

"Всегда есть." She replied.

"And get her back." The man added quietly.

"I don't have a choice, do I?" and before Clint could reply she added, "I don't want to be the one to stand before T.J. if I fail." She added, only slightly joking. Clint laughed quietly and Natasha ended the call.

Natasha laid flat on her stomach as she lay unmoving on the edge of a cliff overlooking the building where her daughter was undoubtedly being held. This was one of many missions that Clint would be perfect for. After an hour more of observing their guard patterns, Natasha slid down the face of the cliff, somersaulting when she reached the base. She drew her hand gun and held it down by her thigh, slipping past the bored guard with little effort. She walked in the shadows, listening for any indication of where her daughter was.

"Yes," a child's voice cried desperately. "Yes, my dad taught me to shoot." That voice belonged to none other than Aleksandra.

"Are you good?" a man's voice sounded.

"Yes." Aleks admitted.

"And you can fight?"

"Yes."

"Prove it. Fight him." Aleks gasped.

"Yes, sir." She amended. Through the heavy metal door, Natasha listened to the sounds of shuffling footsteps and grimaced at how heavy they sounded, signaling the man was large.

"Begin." The man said, sounding bored. Natasha's hand shot out towards the door knob when the sound of a large fist hitting weak flesh and her daughter's strangled cry floated through the door. But she stopped when the man growled in frustration. Aleks must've gotten behind him. Minutes later, the first man spoke again.

"Very good Aleksandra. Now kill him." Her daughter's whimpered protests, and the fear that Aleks would be forced to comply had Natasha bursting through the door. Her earlier calculations had been correct; there were four guards on either side of the door aside from the other two men. She had guessed she could take them out with only minor injuries and one to two bullet wounds. The Black Widow took one man out with a boot to the temple, another two were out with one off their own guns, the fourth was down with her infamous thigh choke, and the one who had been beat by an eight year old girl was down for the count with Natasha hand closed around his throat. She had been close enough; one bullet wound, a graze, and many, many bruises, but she was otherwise unscathed.

"Bravo. I see where your child gets it from." The first man praised sarcastically, a fistful of Aleks' hair in his hand.

"Mathis," Natasha snarled her greeting.

"Romanoff." He replied. "I did tell you I wanted to keep your daughter, did I not?"

"You may have mentioned it." The Widow hissed. Mathis flashed a sickening smile, yanking Aleks backwards. The girl squeezed her eyes shut but stayed remarkably quiet for a child.

"Sorry to disappoint you, but she isn't going anywhere." He reminded. Natasha locked eyes with her daughter, conveying to her that that wasn't true.

"Let her go. Using a little girl as a shield is just weak." Natasha taunted. As the man's eyes flickered down to Aleks, the Black Widow launched herself at him, gripping his wrist tightly and twisting, Aleks spun around to compensate for the hair he still clung to, grabbing his hand and pulling it backwards. The man was shocked as he heard the bones break in the hand Aleks had twisted. Natasha shot Aleks a look that the brunette had seen many times during the days when the eight year old was allowed to watch her parents spar; _stand in the corner and don't speak. _Aleks dropped Mathis' hand and ran to hide in the corner. She watched, eyes flying back and forth between the two combatants as they kicked, punched, stabbed and shot at each other. Then her mother dodged right. As Mathis lunged in her direction, the Black Widow spun to the left. The man realized he'd been tricked too late and shot a full round at her, two caught her side, causing her to falter only slightly, before bringing her arm around and digging her elbow into Mathis' neck. The man collapsed, looking up in fear at the woman who had his life in her hands. Natasha cocked the gun but as she heard her daughter's sharp intake of breath, she stopped. She didn't want to kill someone in front of her daughter.

"I'm not going to shoot you because she's watching. But if you move a muscle, I won't hesitate to blow your head off. Aleks, come here, Mëд." Aleks pushed off the wall, walking cautiously toward her mother. "Reach in my right pocket, second one down, and find my spare comm. Contact either your Dad or SHIELD, tell me when you get one on." Natasha instructed, keeping her eyes on the kidnapper.

"I got a hold of Tony, мама." A small voice sounded from behind her.

"Good job. Tell him to pick us up at the extraction point." Aleks reiterated what Natasha had said then closed her fist around the comm., nodding to her mom.

Natasha handcuffed the man to a metal pipe in the corner; she would send one of her teammates in after she got Aleks out of ear shot. Natasha gripped her daughter's hand, kicked the door open and ran, shooting anyone that dared get in their way.

Both stood at the extraction point, waiting silently for their family to come and pick them up. They stood in the minimal shelter of a tree as the sound of an aircraft rumbled through the forest.

"Aleks!" T.J. screamed as he ran from the plane. Aleks met him halfway, falling into his arms. He sank to his knees, his arms locked tight around his best friend.

"I'm sorry, Leks." He whispered.

"Don't apologize." She ordered. He pushed her back, looking her up and down. He looked at her black eye, split lip, multiple other bruises, and noticed how when the pressure changed abruptly around her torso she winced, and grunted quietly. He sighed, medical could deal with that later, he just pulled her against his chest and held her there. Natasha walked towards Thor, deciding to have him execute the villain. The god nodded grimly and headed back inside. Tony headed toward his son and niece and lifted Aleks into his arms, nodding to T.J. in reassurance. The boy got up and followed his dad. Once her daughter couldn't see her anymore, Natasha collapsed, her three and a half bullet wounds finally catching up. Steve caught her as she fell, pulling her arm over his shoulder and helping her until she passed out completely.

"Clint?" Natasha called groggily as she pulled out of her drug induced coma. Clint released a relieved breath, pressing a long kiss to her forehead.

"Right here, любовь." He replied, squeezing her hand in reassurance.

"How's Leks?" she whispered hoarsely. Clint laughed a little.

"Black eye, minor concussion, few bruises and a cracked rib. She's pretty good, already begging T.J. to get her out." He answered. "You on the other hand," he grimaced. "Three bullet wounds, a graze, all requiring stitches, major blood loss, concussion, major bruising, sprained ankle, and four severely bruised ribs." She smiled drunkenly.

"Not too bad then." She said.

"Not too… Tasha, they didn't think you'd wake up." He whispered, dropping his head down. She squinted in confusion; she didn't remember feeling like she had lost that much blood.

"Clint, I'm fine. Look at me," she ordered. He brought his head up and locked his blue-grey eyes on her exhausted looking green ones. "I'm ok." She murmured. He nodded. "Can you take me home?" she begged. When he looked like he was about to protest, she spoke again. "Please, I just want to see our kids. I'll come back for my post-op and I'll let you do my check-ups, no complaining." She offered. She could've persuaded him if she had wanted, that's what she usually did, but frankly, she was just too tired. The aftereffects of her blood transfusion were beginning to make an appearance. She gave him one more look, '_please'_, and waited for his answer. He had never been good at denying her what she wanted.

"Ok." He sighed. He stood up and began pulling various tubes out of his wife's arms. "I'm carrying you though." He added upon remembering her wrapped ankle. She nodded drowsily; she honestly didn't care at this point. "Stark, can you bring a car to the SHIELD med, we're taking the girls home." He requested, into the phone. "I'm going to go tell T.J., I'll be back любовь." He promised. Natasha only nodded.

Clint returned after he had made sure T.J. could carry Aleks without hurting her or himself. Then he lifted his small looking wife into his arms, watching as her hand tightened around the front of his shirt, no doubt due to the pressure on her torso, and the pulling on her stitches. He stood still until she relaxed, leaning her head against his chest.

Clint climbed into the back seat of one of Stark's larger cars, Natasha's breath catching in her throat as the pressure changed again. Clint adjusted her position in his lap so that it didn't hurt as bad. He glanced questioningly at T.J., who was sitting beside him, then down at Aleks in his lap.

"She's good. I think she fell asleep." T.J. whispered. Clint nodded, and tapped the back of Tony's seat as he started the car up again. During the thirty minute drive home, T.J. fell asleep with his cheek resting on the top of Aleks' head, and Clint dozed off with his head leaned against the window.

The girls would recover and everyone would be ok… Until the next of their enemies came along. But for now, they were ok.


	4. New Addition

**NEW ADDITION**

T.J. Stark came down the staircase, his giggling year and a half old sister on his hip, Aleks by his side. The only three awake this early, as usual, were Thor, Clint and Natasha. Thor sat hunched over at the counter, downing what looked to be his sixth cup of coffee. Jane was a week and a half over her due date. She was miserable and she made sure everyone else was as well. Darcy had come over once every other week to Jane-sit while the guys took Thor out to regain some of his sanity, but even she couldn't handle her friend any more. Clint grinned sympathetically, already filling up another cup as Thor smashed his cup down on the table.

"No harm intended, Lady Natasha, but even you were not as difficult as my Jane. And you threw cutlery at me on multiple occasions." The god grumbled. Natasha only smiled and kept her eyes trained on the newspaper.

"Morning," T.J. called, amused. He handed his fidgety sister to Aleks who began bouncing her to keep her calm for a few more minutes.

"Morning, kids." Clint called.

"T.J.," Thor called in uncharacteristically simple greeting.

"Hungry?" Natasha asked as her 'good morning.'

"Getting there. But Avery is." Aleks answered.

"Clint, make them breakfast." Natasha ordered, turning her attention back to her paper.

"Yes, ma'am." He mocked. She glared. He smirked. Clint walked over to the kitchen and began to gather the ingredients he needed. Aleks sat her strawberry blonde cousin down on the counter and adjusted the baby's shirt, tickling her until she was squealing bloody murder and Thor was hurriedly shushing both the girls for fear of the noise waking Jane up. T.J. smirked, padded over to Natasha, and sat down on the coffee table her feet were propped up on.

"Anything new?" he asked, leaning forward.

"Nothing Avengers or SHIELD worthy." She replied.

"Good." He mumbled. He seriously hated when his family went on missions. He always sat on the couch, a comforting arm around his mom, Avery in his lap, Aleks on his other side, her hand enveloped in his, and Phillip in her lap. Jane sat in the chair beside the couch. They stayed there for however long the missions took, eyes glued to the TV praying nothing would go wrong. Natasha smiled sadly at the boy, stood up ruffled his hair as she passed. She attempted, and failed, to sneak up behind Clint. He spun around before she could catch him. He pinned her arms to her side and kissed her.

"Turn the stove on." He smiled. T.J. stood up and walked towards the counter where the remaining currently awake family members were sitting. Pepper came downstairs next, holding a fussy Phillip. She handed the boy off to Natasha.

"Happy birthday Маленький человека." Natasha whispered. She patted Thor on the back sympathetically when she walked by him.

"Good morning Lady Pepper." Thor mumbled. Pepper smiled and walked over to her son.

"Morning honey." She greeted, kissing T.J.'s forehead.

"Morning mom." He replied. Pepper picked Avery up off the counter. Aleks turned to T.J. and they begun discussing the day. Bruce was up from the lab, shortly after Steve came up from the training room. He had this fear that if he slept for long periods of time, he'd wake up in the ice again. His alternative was barely sleeping, always claiming he had slept long enough.

Once breakfast was done, Tony came down. Skipping out on helping all together as he usually did.

"Miss Jane requests your presence, Thor." Jarvis announced. Thor cringed and stood up.

"Good luck Big Guy," Clint called over his shoulder. The others sat down around the oversized dining table, shoveling large pieces of waffle into their mouths.

Everyone stayed politely silent and hid their smirks (excepting Tony, of course.) as Thor walked towards the group, Jane clinging to his arm as struggled to walk.

"I hate you Tony. One more word about me being fat," Jane spat warningly.

"Morning to you too, sunshine." He muttered sarcastically. Thor sighed, pulling her chair out for her and helping her down into it. The others said nothing. They had learned that Jane was more temperamental than Natasha had been. They had long since stopped giving her silverware with meals. The only consolation was that she couldn't aim. At all. Steve held his arms out and Phillip was passed to him. Clint and Natasha stood up and gathered the dishes, making their way to the sink to clean them.

Later that day, the whole family sat on the floor, (apart from Jane), watching the now three year old Phillip Barton mess with his wrapping paper. He had received a miniature bow and arrow (courtesy of Tony Stark who had gotten a pen thrown at him), a small toy Captain America shield, (from Steve, in hopes that the boy wouldn't give him a heart attack by playing with his vibranium weapon, now that he had his own), Bruce had given the child a book (which Phillip had promptly thrown across the room), Thor had given him some sort of popular Asgardian kid's toy (that had so far been Phillip's favorite), he'd gotten clothes from Pepper (Natasha had been more excited about that then he had), Jane had given him the most normal gift, a toy truck (that had been launched at Aleks by a giggling and clapping brother), he got an oversized rainbow bouncy ball from the other kids, and finally a Hawkeye costume from his mom and dad. Tony had pouted about that, mumbling something about it being unfair.

In the midst of watching Avery and Phillip have a cake fight Jane had spoken for the first time in an hour. She called her husband over and whispered something too low for anyone else to hear. Steve had grinned, hurrying to the oversized man's side, grabbing his arm before he could faint.

"Ma'am," Steve had held his hand out to Jane, hauled to her feet and then helped her to a car. The other men had snapped Thor out of it and he had run through the wall. Natasha had sent Pepper off with Jane, seen as she was more understanding then Natasha would ever be. Natasha bathed Avery and Phillip while T.J. waited to dress Phillip when the assassin had finished washing them, and Aleks packed a bag for Jane.

It was 10:30 when Natasha had finally gotten both fussy babies into the car. Poor Aleks got stuck in the back, entertaining the tired children for the drive.

The man hadn't realized who he was dealing with when he refused Natasha access to Jane's room. Someone else who worked there had recognized her, bowled the other man over, and stuttered an apology before waving the Black Widow forward.

Now they sat, both Pepper and Natasha rocking their smaller children, while their husbands slept with their heads in the women's lap. T.J. wrapped his arms around Aleks while she slept with her head against his chest. Steve and Bruce slept leaning against each other. Pepper had taken a picture for future embarrassment purposes, to which Natasha had made a comment about Tony rubbing off on her.

At exactly 7:34 am the next day Mja (as in Mjolnir much to the other's amusement, (pronounced Mia) Darcy Thorson was born. The other's had made a move to go see the new family member when the doctor had waved them off. The family had sat in confusion, wondering what had gone wrong. Forty-five minutes later a nurse informed them of the arrival of Erik Thorson.

The large family had crammed into the small room to get a glimpse of Mja and Erik. Jane handed Pepper and Tony there goddaughter, and Bruce his godson (Darcy would get to meet her godson later).

Things would get crazier now that their family was two people bigger. But no one would trade it for anything.


	5. Not the Last Goodbye

**Not the Last Goodbye **

Fifteen year old Aleks Barton grinned as she noted that she had beat T.J. Again. His hands were pinned to the mat by her knees, her right hand cupping his chin, and the other tangled in the dark brown sweaty hair at the top of his head; she could snap his neck in seconds if she tried.

"I win. Again." Aleks smirked, panting as sweat dripped down the side of her face.

"Good job, Leks. Now lemme up." The seventeen year old gasped. The gymnast of a teenager flipped off her best friend, pushing up to a handstand. She touched her feet to the ground, standing up with grace matched only by her mother. "Show off." T.J. muttered, pushing his bruised body off the floor. Aleks smiled sadly.

"Stop pouting. You could beat anyone…but me." She flashed him a smile that always nearly brought the sarcastic, arrogant, Tony Stark's son to his knees. Aleks stood on her toes and kissed his cheek. The teenager's pout dissipated.

"See you in an hour." He promised as she ghosted to the elevator.

"Don't be late." She commanded. T.J. scoffed.

"You _know_ that I'll be late, Leks." She rolled her eyes before disappearing down the hallway. T.J. shook his head, picked his towel up off the floor and headed to his room.

An hour and fifteen minutes later, T.J. stood outside the bedroom door across the hall from his. He knocked and waited for Aleks' consent to come in.

"Almost ready!" she called.

"Can I come in?"He prompted. She made a noise of acknowledgment and he pushed the heavy door open. "Does this mean I'm off the hook for being late?" he asked the bathroom door.

"Sure, T.J." she grumbled.

"Ha." He said triumphantly, grinning because he _knew _that she was rolling her eyes. He sat on the edge of her bed, leaning back to stare at the ceiling. His eyes traveled to her bedside table where four pictures sat. The one on the far right was of all of them; Tony, Pepper, T.J., Avery, Steve, Bruce, Thor, Jane, Mja, Erik, Clint, Natasha, Phillip and Aleks. The second was of Phillip and Avery. The third was of her parents. The fourth was what he knew to be her favorite picture of the two of them; Pepper had taken it without them noticing, one of the times they had danced. T.J. was dipping Aleks as low as he always did, his brown eyes looking deep into her bluish-grey.

"That's my favorite picture." Aleks confirmed as she walked out of the bathroom.

"I know." He murmured, sitting up and running a hand through his hair. His mouth twitched in the effort of keeping it closed.

She wore a pale blue dress that fell to just above her knees. The neckline was high enough that the dress was casual, but the black ribbon around her waist made it slightly more formal. She left her brown hair down the way she knew T.J. liked it best. Leaning against the doorframe, she slipped her silver flats onto her feet, snapping her fingers in vain attempt to snap T.J. out of it with her free hand.

"You look beautiful Leks." He whispered sincerely, making his way over to where she stood.

"You say that even when I wear my workout clothes." She replied skeptically. He shrugged.

"And I mean it." He promised. She rolled her shimmering eyes and pushed passed T.J., grabbing his hand in the process. He laced his fingers through hers and followed her out.

Steve set the last plate on the table and stood behind his chair waiting politely for others before sitting. Pepper and Clint carried the last of the serving dishes and managed to find space on the overstocked table. Natasha finished pouring the water into each glass, instructing Jarvis to tell Bruce and Tony it was time to come up. Jane and Thor situated the younger children, consisting of five year old Erik and Mja, and six year old Avery Stark, in their chairs. Eight year old Phillip Barton sat in the chair between Avery and the chair his mom would sit in.

Eventually after twenty minutes of threatening the scientists, wrestling the fidgety kids into their seats (and getting them to stay there), and attempting to get everyone at the table at the same time, dinner started.

"You look very nice girls." Steve complimented. Avery and Mja giggled.

"Thanks Uncle Steve." They chirped.

"Thanks." Aleks echoed sincerely.

"How bad did T.J. lose today?" Natasha asked knowingly. T.J.'s eyes narrowed.

"Pretty bad. Not as bad as yesterday though. He managed to hold me off for a full six minutes." Aleks teased. Clint raised his eyebrows sympathetically.

"Tasha kicked my butt repeatedly when we sparred." He admitted to the once again pouting teenager.

"When we _spar_." Natasha corrected her husband's tense. He grumbled something that no one else heard. Five more minutes later Steve cleared his throat, setting his fork down.

"The majority voted that I be the one to tell you all that the Avengers were called on a mission." He said nervously. T.J. dropped his eyes down, not wanting anyone to see the hurt and panic in them, he hated when his family went on missions. But Aleks knew; she always did. He glanced gratefully at the hand she placed on his knee in attempted reassurance. He laid his hand on top of hers, in response. The room was suddenly filled with children's worried exclamations.

"You're leaving, Daddy?" Mja whispered.

"Dad's going to fight again?" Erik asked his mom.

"Don't go, Daddy!" Avery cried, running over to her dad. She hated missions as much as the next kid. Phillip blinked back worried tears. He was his parent's son. He didn't cry. It didn't help anything and he knew it.

"When do you leave?" Aleks asked through gritted teeth.

"Tonight." Natasha answered. The girl nodded once. T.J.'s hand tensed.

The family finished their dinner and made their way to the roof where the Avengers would take off. T.J. shrugged out of his sweatshirt, tugging it around Aleks' shoulders before going back to clinging to her hand like a lifeline. Phillip stood between Mja and Avery, holding their hands like the amazing older brother he was to them. Erik stood next to his twin sister, staring at the floor. Pepper and Jane stood behind them waiting for their turn to say goodbye.

"Be careful." Aleks mouthed to her parents, letting go of T.J.'s hand to hug her parents. Clint kissed Aleks' forehead.

"We always are baby girl." He assured her, moving in front of Phillip and giving the boy his 'Behave and be strong,' speech. Clint ruffled his son's blood red hair and moved off to the side to wait for Natasha. Said agent crouched down and held her arms open for both her kids. They approached her carefully; Aleks stopped just in front of her and Phillip sat down on her knee.

"We'll be home soon. Be good." She ordered, kissing both her kids.

"Love you мама." They whispered.

"Love you Mëд, love you Маленький человека." Aleks stepped back, pulling her brother off of their mom and moving back into T.J.'s arms. Steve, Bruce, Clint, and Natasha waited patiently for Tony and Thor to disentangle themselves from their wives before they stepped onto the aircraft. They wouldn't look back until they were in the air; it made it worse for those waiting if they did.

They always did these big goodbyes. Some would momentarily wonder if it was getting tiring and repetitive before realizing that any of those goodbyes could be the last. Each of the super heroes looked down on their family out the window; it never failed to amaze them that they had come this far.

They watched until they couldn't make them out anymore and leaned back, each hoping to get some sleep before they arrived.

Aleks released her hold on Phillip's shirt once they were out of sight. He walked back over to the crying little girls, taking their hands and pulling them inside. Erik stood there, staring at the spot where the aircraft had been last seen. Jane sighed, scooping her son into her arms. Pepper looked at the two oldest kids with a sad expression. T.J. pulled out of Aleks' grasp and walked to the edge of the roof. Aleks sighed.

"I got it." She told the Stark CEO. Pepper nodded and followed Jane inside. Aleks approached T.J., gently touching her hand to his back. He flinched slightly but relaxed when he realized who it was. "They'll come back." She promised, sliding her arm around his waist, leaning her head against his shoulder. He turned his head to kiss her hair.

"Don't make promises you can't make happen." He sighed. She kept quiet at that and the two stood there for a few silent beats, watching the city around them. Finally, he pulled away from the edge, waiting for Aleks to follow before walking forward. Again, he held her hand as they made their way to the living room.

Phillip was biting his lip in attempt to keep from crying when his sister came in. She locked eyes with him and sent him a meaningful glance. She held her pale hand out to his and he stood up from where he had been playing go fish with the younger kids. Slipping his hand into Aleks', Phillip let her pull him out of earshot. She dropped to her knees, holding her arms open for the red head. His lip quivered as he let go of the strong façade he had going. Tears rolled down the eight year olds face as he stumbled into his big sister's embrace. Aleks rocked back, sitting on the floor against the wall while Phillip cried into her chest. Sometimes, that boy forgot he was a kid. He forgot he was allowed to act like one, no matter who his parents were.

Ever since the kids came into the picture, the team had tried even harder to make it back to them. Most of them had grown up unloved or orphaned, and they'd do everything they could to make sure that didn't happen to the six kids waiting for them to pull through and save the world. Somehow, it was more pressure to have those kids counting on them to make it home then it was to have the whole world counting on them to save it. T.J. and Avery had plenty to worry about because their dad was the very definition of show off, and sometimes that got him hurt. Erik and Mja were too young to completely understand it, but they had close to nothing to be scared of; their dad was immortal. But Aleks and Phillip on the other hand had more to worry about than the wives and kids combined; both their parents were out there. And they were both human; no serum enhancements, no suit, no godly heritage, no gamma poisoning. Besides that, even if one or the other got hurt, it was highly possible the other wouldn't come home. The kids weren't even sure that _they _were enough incentive to make their mom or dad come home if the other couldn't.

Aleks braced her back against the wall, sliding one foot underneath her. She pushed up to her feet, managing not to wake her sleeping brother. She walked to his room, tapping the door with her foot. Aleks looked to Jarvis (the ceiling) in silent thanks as the door swung open. She slid the covers back on his bed with her foot, laying him down. She pulled the blankets up around him, slipping out of the Hawkeye themed bedroom.

"He ok?" T.J. asked as Aleks came back. She shrugged and nodded. They were all asleep, Mja leaning against her brother's shoulder, Avery's head in Erik's lap, her strawberry blonde hair spread out over his lap. Pepper came up behind Aleks and snapped a picture of the kids. "Want Leks and I to take them to bed?" T.J. offered. Both the moms smiled appreciatively.

"Will you? They've got a long night tomorrow." Jane replied, referring to the long night of watching the news intently.

"Sure Aunt Jane." Aleks smiled, leaning around to hug the worried women. "You wanna get Ave?" she asked T.J. knowingly. He smiled sheepishly.

"Do you mind?" She smiled and shook her head.

"I'll take the twins." She confirmed. T.J. dropped to his knees and carefully pulled his little sister off of Erik, slowly so as not to wake her. He positioned her so that her head was leaning against his chest before carrying her off to her pink room. Aleks lifted Mja into one arm, her head fell onto one of the older girl's shoulders but she stayed asleep. Erik was hefted into the other arm, his head falling onto the other shoulder. Aleks walked down the hallway to the double bedroom across the hall from Jane and Thor's. She put both of the twins in their beds. Erik woke just as Aleks was turning to leave.

"Will my dad be ok?" he murmured quietly. Aleks turned back around and crouched down beside the boy's bed.

"Of course he will. When hasn't he come home to you?" the girl asked rhetorically. He nodded.

"Ok." Aleks smiled, ruffled the boy's blonde hair and stood, admiring the mural of Asgard as she passed. She stopped after she closed the door, listening to a child's shuffling feet and knew that Erik was going to sleep in his sister's bed. She waited outside Avery's bedroom and waited for T.J. to finish reassuring his now awake sister that their dad would be just fine like always. He said goodnight and Aleks listened as he made his way to the door. She met his worried gaze and hugged him wordlessly keeping her arms around him as they headed to the common room. They turned the T.V. onto the news channel, turned the volume way down and fell asleep leaning against each other.

T.J. grunted when something hit his chest. _Hard._ His eyes snapped open, flashing to the clock on the wall. _4:10 am. _He groaned and looked down at Aleks. Her head snapped from side to side, while she whimpered protests. T.J. grabbed both her wrists, hoping that would stop her from trying to strangle him when she woke up.

"Leks!" Nothing. "Aleks!" She froze. "Aleksandra, wake up!" he ordered. She flinched awake, thrashing in attempt to get her arms free. "Aleks!" he called in forceful quietness. She froze again; looking up at him with terror struck grey eyes.

"T.J.?" she asked softly.

"Right here, Leks." He promised. She scrutinized him for a moment before collapsing against his chest. He held her tight, running his right hand through her hair. Eventually she calmed down. "You ok?" he asked cautiously. She nodded.

"Nightmare." She explained. He nodded into the curve of her neck; he had guessed as much.

"You don't want to go back to sleep do you?" he asked with a slightly weary tone. She glanced up at him and shook her head. He sat up, leaving one arm around her shoulders, and turned the volume up on the T.V.

Eventually, she couldn't hold her eyes open any longer, and she passed out. T.J. turned the volume back down was out like a light.

"Mja, shh! They're sleeping!" Avery called too loudly. T.J. was a heavy sleeper, but Aleks, not so much. She was awake with the first children's footsteps. She slid out from under T.J.'s heavy arm, hushing the kids.

"Let's go down a floor so the others can still sleep." Aleks sighed, holding a hand out for the shyer twin. Erik took the hand and stood up. Aleks instructed Jarvis to inform the other's where they had gone once they woke up. Getting the kids settled in front of the T.V., Aleks walked to the kitchen, putting her best dish together; cereal. She was her mother's daughter in another sense; she couldn't cook to save her life. She set three bowls down on the coffee table in front of the kids

"Thanks Aleks."

"Welcome, Mja." The other kids echoed Jane's daughter.

Mja was like her mother in personality; outgoing, smart, temperamental, confident. Erik on the other hand was like their father; brave, clueless, strong, and somewhere along the line he had inherited the trait of being shy. But they both looked like Thor; dirty blonde hair, blue eyes.

Aleks sat down on the couch, biting pieces off her apple. Soon, the women and T.J. would wake, the kids would sober up, and a quarter of the family would huddle together on the couch and watch their family fight. It was an hour until everyone was awake.

"Mrs. Stark requests that you join them upstairs." Jarvis announced.

"Thanks Jarvis."Aleks replied.

"Of course, Miss Barton." Aleks ushered the kids into the elevator.

"Morning Aunt Jane, Auntie Pepper. Hey T.J." Aleks greeted, gravitating closer to her best friend. He glanced down at her, questioningly. Aleks nodded in answer to his silent question she knew had to do with him wondering if she was ok after her nightmare.

"Morning honey. You fed the kids?" Pepper asked surprised. Aleks shrugged.

"Cereal." She explained.

"Ah." She murmured amused. But the fifteen year old could see the traces of sleeplessness and worry in her eyes.

At noon, the battle was finally announced on the news. Jane sat down in the love seat, lifting both the five year olds into her lap. Pepper sat down in the far left corner. T.J. sat next to her, putting his arm around his mom's shoulders and Avery climbed into her big brother's lap. Aleks sat beside him, gripping as tight to his hand as she could without worrying that she would do damage. Phillip sat down in her lap, leaning back against her chest, already staring intently at the screen.

"Thor, Romanoff, you and I will be down on the ground. Stark, circle around, notify us of anything we don't seem to see, and destroy when you've got a clear shot. Barton, stay up high, take em' out. Hulk, _SMASH._ Good luck team." Captain snapped a salute and was in position before Bruce hulked out. Thor and Natasha followed him out, Tony took the sky, and Clint scaled a nearby building.

The enemy advanced and Clint and Natasha looked to each other in silent 'Be careful. I love you. Good luck.' But not goodbye. Never goodbye.

Captain America threw his shield, taking out another opponent. Thor chucked his hammer, taking another seven lives. The Black Widow fired a round, kicked another in the head, demonstrated her thigh choke and snapped another's neck, another five down. Iron Man blasted three stragglers to bits. Hawkeye shot an exploding arrow into a clump of adversaries, shaving another chunk off their side. Hulk smashed another group to pieces with a nearby abandoned car. It was going well as far as they could tell.

From his vantage point, hundreds of feet above the battle, Hawkeye could see everything. Including the enemy that snuck up on his partner. The foe covered Natasha's mouth from behind and fired a round into her back. Clint realized this too late and by the time he had, he couldn't get a clear shot. Natasha slumped to the ground, leaving the man vulnerable. The last thing the attacker saw was an arrow centimeters from his face. Clint shot a grappling arrow into the space of the roof in front of him, sliding down the face of the building. Rushing to his partner, he lifted her frail bleeding form into his lap.

Aleks lurched to her feet, dumping Phillip on the ground. T.J. quickly lifted Avery off of his lap and hurried to pull Aleks back. He wound his arms around her waist, holding her back.

"Aleks stop!" he ordered. But she had seen which organs those bullets would've hit and she continued to fight against his grip. "Leks!" he called again, tightening the grip. He took one arm away from her waist, using it to hold her arms down. The fight slowly drained out of her and she relaxed into his chest, tears streaming down her face. T.J. sank to the floor, rocking back on his heels, pulling her closer. "Shh." He whispered into her dark hair as he attempted to stop the trembling.

"Don't you _dare _do this to me Natasha Romanoff!" Clint ordered, his own tears dripping onto her increasingly pale face.

Seeing that Clint was unresponsive to his team's calling for him, the members of the Avengers had circled their fallen teammate and her partner, destroying anything that dare attack them while their feared, though loved, Black Widow lay dying. Clint shook her and plead with her, sobbing over her cold body.

"Tasha, please." He whispered, slumping forward, pressing his face gently into her hair. Blood had now soaked the entire front of her uniform. Many slow minutes later, he felt a cool, weak, unbelievably shaky hand on his neck.

"Love you, Clint." She whispered so quietly that Clint barely caught it over the noise of the battle. He shook his head in denial.

"No. Tasha, look at me. Keep your eyes open, do you understand me?" he choked. Her eyes fluttered, only to be forced open again. Her hand slid down his chest and fell limp on her stomach.

"Cap, you gotta snap him out of it. I'll get Romanov out of here." Stark called. Steve nodded, walking backwards a few paces.

"Hawkeye! Barton, look at me!" Captain America snapped. Clint's head spun around angrily. "Stark's gonna get her to base, but we need you to pull it together for a little while and help us out here. Understand?" Clint nodded and Steve backed away, sending Tony in. Iron Man stomped over to where Clint was kneeling with his wife in his arms. The metal man dropped to one knee, moving his face mask up so he could look his friend in the eye.

"I've got her." He promised, slowly reaching forward with gloved hands to take Natasha from Barton. Clint lifted his blood caked hand away from the cluster of bleeding wounds on her chest. Tony made sure to use the arm that wasn't supporting her whole body to staunch the bleeding to the best of his ability before his mask clanged shut and he took off. Clint rose to one knee, putting his fist on the ground to steady himself while he banished all thoughts of Natasha, who, if he was honest with himself, would most likely not make it until he got to base. With that thought, he forced himself to his feet. If he had held his bow any tighter he would've splintered it.

A nervous soldier approached Captain Rogers, who was leaning against the wall of the air craft. He looked up as shaky footsteps approached.

"Agent Romanov's heart stopped three times on the flight to SHIELD base. She's in surgery at this moment, sir, but…"

"Thanks son." Steve replied quietly. The man nodded and shuffled away. Rogers sighed and set off to find Clint.

Pepper left the little kids with Jane and went off to the side to call her husband, who she had seen take off with their friend in his arms.

"Pepper," he called into the phone. She heard the rare tone of vulnerability in his voice that she had only heard a few times before.

"Tony," she sighed.

"She all but bled out in my arms." He whispered, swallowing. "If that had been you…" he choked. "Clint's gonna die." He muttered.

"Tony," she sighed again, cutting him off. "You did all you could. Are you coming home or staying with her?" she asked gently.

"I think I'll stay till Clint gets here. I may even stay then. I've gotta feeling he won't take it too well when they don't let him see her. You'll keep the kids away?" he checked.

"Of course." She answered quietly.

"How're they?" he exhaled.

"Aleks lost it. T.J. got her to calm down. Phillip tried unimaginably hard to be strong, but he's only eight. Jane held him until he fell asleep. Mja, Erik, and Avery are scared." She stated. Tony took a deep breath.

"I'll call you later Pep." He promised. She nodded even though he couldn't see her.

Aleks took a deep breath, getting up off T.J.'s lap and holding her shaking hand out to him. He accepted it and got to his feet, using the hand he held to pull her to him.

"You ok?" he whispered. She shook her head against his chest.

"I have to go talk to Phillip." She replied.

"Your mom will fight, Leks." He promised, pressing his lips to her forehead.

"I know." She bit her lip and pulled away, locking eyes with him before walking away to her little brother. She dropped to her knees, holding her arms open. Phillip looked at her, his little lips pressed together. "It's ok, Phil." She murmured. And the boy cracked, launching himself at his sister. She lifted him up and carried him away from an audience.

"Is mom going to be ok?" he asked between sobs. Aleks stayed quiet.

"I don't know, bud. But I do know that she's gonna try. She wouldn't leave you and dad without a fight." She promised. Phillip continued to cry, soaking his pale cheeks in salt water.

"Did mom or dad ever tell you about the man you're named after?" Aleks asked after a few minutes. Phillip shook his head. Aleks leaned her head back against the wall.

"You know that mom and dad used to work for a company called SHIELD?" he nodded. "They had a handler, his name was Phil Coulson. He protected them, watched out for them, dealt with them, and handled their missions and training exercises. He and dad were really close. Phil was like a brother to dad. Phil was the second person mom learned to trust after dad saved her. He and Fury brought Uncle Steve, Uncle Bruce, Uncle Tony, Uncle Thor, mom and dad together to form the Avengers. But during the Avengers' first battle, Phil was killed. He was very brave; he stood up to the villain even though he knew he was outmatched. Mom and dad miss him very much and that's why they named you Phillip." Aleks finished the story.

"Big shoes to fill." Phillip muttered. Aleks glanced down at him, wondering where he had learned that phrase as a little kid. His eyes closed and he drifted off to sleep.

"You've got to send her over here Pepper; he needs an incentive to…" Bruce trailed off. Pepper sighed.

"Alright, Bruce. She'll be over there in twenty minutes." Pepper hung up and put her phone back in her pocket, moving out of her corner to find her niece. "Aleks, honey, you're up." She murmured, crouching down in front of the red head and the brunette. She cocked her head questioningly. "Bruce thinks that if you go down to the hospital, it'll help your dad a little bit." Pepper explained. Aleks nodded, glancing down at her brother who had curled up in her lap. Pepper reached forward and slid her arms under the light eight year olds body, getting to her feet and nodding Aleks away.

Minutes after Aleks had arrived at her bedroom, a quiet knock sounded on the door. She called a small 'come in' knowing who it would be. T.J. shuffled into the room, moving closer to Aleks.

"You gonna be ok down there?" he whispered.

"No. But dad needs me to be." She looked up at him with sad grey eyes. He frowned, pulling Aleks against his chest again.

"You'll call me if you need to?" he checked.

"Of course."

"Hey Leks?" he called as she picked her bag up off the bed and started to leave. She turned her head. T.J. grabbed her arm and pulled her back, taking a deep breath before doing what they had both wished he would for the last year. T.J. leaned his head down and kissed her. Gently, quickly, but sweetly and it was over before Aleks could react. "I'll be here." He promised, slipping out of her bedroom. Aleks smiled slightly to herself and left for the garage.

"Thanks Happy." Aleks smiled as she got out of the car in front of SHIELD base. She slung her bag onto her shoulder and fumbled with her small wallet for her ID badge. She found it just as she reached the desk. "Aleksandra Barton." She muttered as she handed the card to the man. His eyes shot up in recognition.

"Go right ahead Miss." He replied sadly, never glancing at the card. She fought back a scowl; she hated sympathy, but replaced it with a smile, something she had learned to do so well from her mom. She found the way to the hallway her mom's room would be in. She knew she had found the right place when she saw a shaking man hunched over, sitting on the floor against the wall she knew to be her mother's room. Looking further down the hallway, she saw the rest of the Avengers, minus the only woman. Aleks dropped her bag where she stood, sitting down beside her dad.

Clint tensed as he felt someone sit down beside him; he had told them to leave him alone. As he lifted his head to remind the person of that, he saw someone much too short to be an Avenger.

"Leks?" he whispered.

"Hey daddy." She confirmed. He bit his lip, and looked down at the floor. He felt his daughter hesitantly lean her head against his shoulder. They heard the noise level increase through the wall and both tensed. Clint put an arm around his daughter and shook with held back sobs.

Hours later, a doctor, with a disturbing amount of blood on his sleeves, appeared in the hallway. Clint jumped up, accidently hitting Aleks in the process. He grimaced and helped her up. The man shook his head, but not in a way that had Clint attacking him, in a way that had hope surging through the assassin's body at an unnatural rate.

"I don't know how she did it. I have never seen anyone survive after losing that much blood. But against all odds, Agent Romanov is stable. For now." He added in. "She isn't, by any means, in the clear. But she's still alive." Clint pulled Aleks closer.

"Can I…" he asked nervously.

"Of course," the doctor gestured towards the door. Clint looked down at his daughter.

"I'm ok daddy. I've got to get back to Phil and the other kids." She promised. He nodded.

"Thank you, baby girl. For coming down here I mean." He murmured sincerely. She nodded and smiled up at him, watching as her dad moved shakily into the white, bleach smelling room.

Clint stopped dead in his tracks the moment the heavy metal door clanged shut. He thought they said she was _alive_. She sure as anything didn't _look _alive. The only thing proving that she was was the not so steadily beeping heart monitor.

"Oh Tasha." He breathed, not fighting against the tears leaking from his eyes. She looked as small as he had ever seen her, nearly blending into the white hospital sheets. Her hair made her look even paler, despite how impossible that seemed. There were many, _many_ various tubes sticking out of her arms along with a nasal cannula. His wife was bare-chested aside from the bandage wrapped from mid-sternum to the base of her ribcage. Blood was slowly seeping through three different spots. He literally vibrated with fear. But if they thought he would do anything rash, they would send Aleks back to keep him company and _no child_, no matter _who _their parents were should _ever _have to see their mother like that. He took a deep breath, battling hard to keep his breathing even. He fell to his knees, hitting the ground hard beside her bed. He reached forward to touch her hand, flinching away quickly. Her hand was too cold to help convince him she wasn't dead.

As Aleks walked through the door, she was met with the sight of six bags in the middle of the living room floor. She glanced questioningly at Pepper as the older woman walked by.

"We're going down to the hospital. The guys decided they aren't coming home so we are going to them. SHIELD said they set aside a couple rooms on that floor for us." She explained.

"Persuasive much?" Aleks joked weakly. Pepper grinned.

"You know it Leks." She replied deviously.

"The kids ready yet?" Aleks asked dutifully.

"Phillip's still asleep, Ave just woke up, and the twins are watching T.V." Pepper listed. "So no."

"Phil's still out?" Aleks asked in surprise.

"He woke up when I put him to bed. The he fell back asleep." The strawberry blonde answered. The fifteen year old nodded.

"I'll go get them dressed." She offered. "Hey, where's-?" Aleks tossed over her shoulder, halfway past the threshold.

"Shooting range." She boy's mother said. Aleks frowned, wondering why he would go there.

She punched her access code into the keypad, shoving the door open without hesitating.

"How's your mom?" he asked, keeping his eyes trained on the stationary target.

"Alive." Aleks answered.

"Good." T.J. replied.

"What's wrong?" she asked finally.

"Nothing." He answered with fake honesty that Aleks saw through clearly. She narrowed her stormy gaze at him and he sighed in defeat. "Just worried about you." He said, blushing slightly.

"Why?" she pressed, stepping closer to him.

"You can't _possibly_ be as strong right now as you're forcing yourself to be." He growled, eyeing the growing shadows under her eyes with heightening hatred.

"I'm not." She admitted quietly, looking at the ground. "I'm absolutely terrified. But I can't be." She stammered. "Phillip and dad need me to be _strong_."

"You're a kid too Leks." He murmured, tilting her head up.

"I'm not. I haven't been a kid in nine years T.J." she argued. He let out a shaky deep breath; she was right, neither of them had been kids for years now. "I have to get the kids ready to go. You coming, hot shot?"She asked, eyeing the six perfectly aimed bullet holes in the target. He grinned at the nickname.

"Yeah. Hey Leks?" he called as she moved to walk away. She turned around expectantly. "Round two." He muttered before kissing her again, longer than before.

"Love is for children." She breathed the phrase she'd heard her mother use against her dad.

"I thought you said you weren't a child anymore." He smirked. She rolled her eyes.

"Shut up, genius."

"Yes ma'am." He mocked.

The kids sat quietly in the limo, looking down at their hands. Tears continually welled in Phillip's eyes when he thought of his mom, but they were always blinked back when Mja and Avery looked up at him expectantly. He smiled a forced smile down at the girls. They both snuggled deeper into either his left or right side. He put a small arm around their shoulders, and looked across to Aleks. She smiled reassuringly, while inside she was sad. She was sad that her brother hadn't gotten more of a childhood. His emerald gaze shifted down to Avery as she moved and Aleks looked away. T.J. looked down at her where she leaned tiredly against his muscled shoulder.

"Go to sleep Leks." He begged.

"Can't." she mumbled, even as her eyes fluttered. He groaned softly.

"Why not Leks?" The girls are asleep, Jane's holding Erik and he's _asleep_, Phillip is focused on Ave, and mom and I will be awake if anything happens." He argued. She shook her head adamantly.

"I'm fine; really…" she stifled a yawn before it could betray her. "…really T.J." she continued. He groaned again in frustration, leaning down to kiss her brown hair. She mumbled something incoherent. The consistent thump-thump of T.J.'s heart lulling her to sleep against her will.

T.J. Stark grinned in relieved triumph as Aleks relaxed, finally falling asleep. He loosened his grip around her waist, only to tighten it again seconds later when she flinched, searching blindly for his hand. T.J. turned his head, sensing eyes on him. He met his mom's chocolate eyes. She had been watching the exchange between the two oldest kids with awed realization. The boy grinned sheepishly at his mom. She leaned over and patted his arm.

The next thing T.J. knew, he was looking into the beautiful, tired storms that were his best friend's eyes.

"We're here." She muttered informatively. He nodded, running a hand across his face, ducking out of the low car door. Pepper walked over to Aleks, holding Avery out to her hopefully. Aleks smiled at her aunt and took the sleeping girl into her arms. Pepper, T.J. and Jane helped carry the bags into the SHIELD infirmary. Phillip, carrying Mja who had only recently woken up, and Erik trailed behind the fifteen year old. Avery's head bobbed up and down on Aleks' shoulder. The strawberry blonde six year old didn't wake up until the familiar sound of her mother arguing, with an obviously new concierge, woke her. Aleks took an impatient breath, moving over to T.J. She handed the teenager his little sister. T.J. watched her carefully as her expression changed into one the world feared; one of the angry Natasha Barton. She pushed her sleeves up, advancing on the clueless man. Pepper took in the look on her niece's face and moved quickly out of the way. Aleks leaned over the counter, looking the man dead in the eye.

"Do you know who I am?" she asked in a terrifyingly quiet voice. The man shook his head, swallowing thickly. "My name is Aleks. Aleksandra Barton actually." She clarified, forcing back a smirk as terrified recognition lit his eyes. "Do you know who my mom is?" he nodded. The Black Widow was justly feared among the SHIELD staff much to Fury's annoyance. "Do you know where she is, _right now?"_ he swallowed, looked down and nodded solemnly. Aleks slapped her palm on the cold counter top; _case closed._ She took Avery back from her best friend, smiling shyly at T.J. and pulled Erik along with her free hand.

A three way chorus of 'Daddy!' rang through the white hallway. Aleks handed Avery to Tony, stepping back and lifting Phillip up once Mja and Erik had been swept away by their parents. T.J. had promised to be right back as soon as he said hi to his dad, leaving Aleks and Phillip alone in the pernicious sea of worry. Steve carefully approached the lost looking children, tilting his head to look them in the eye.

"How's my mom?" Phillip asked in a tiny voice. Steve took a deep breath.

"You better go check on him, Aleks. He hasn't come out since they let him in." he told her, not sure how to answer the boy's question without scaring him or giving him false hope. She nodded grimly, handing Phil to her god father. She took a shaky deep breath, meeting T.J.'s concerned eyes before entering the room.

"Daddy?" she called quietly. Clint spun around, hoping he had imagined the voice of his daughter. He sighed once the sight of her standing in the doorway proved he hadn't.

"Hey baby girl." Her eyes drifted unwillingly to the hospital bed where she was met with the horrifying scene that was her mom. And finally, the childish side of her surfaced; what seemed like years but had only been days, of being strong when she was crumbling finally caught up with her. Tears streamed down her face like an uncontrollable waterfall. Clint hadn't wanted either of their kids to see Natasha like this. Aleks would be scarred now. He let go of Natasha's hand, for the first time since he'd steeled himself enough to ignore the unnatural cold, and moved toward Aleks. She choked slightly in attempt to stop crying. Then, her dad's strong arms wrapped around her and she stopped resisting, letting the tears stain her father's shirt. He sat down in a chair, holding his teenage daughter on his lap. Clint Barton rested his chin on Aleks' head, whispering to her that he was sorry. He never once told her it would be ok; he and Natasha never did because they knew from personal experience that they couldn't promise that.

"I'm so sorry dad." She breathed. He tensed slightly, pushing her away, keeping his hands around her upper arms.

"Don't be sorry." He ordered. "You shouldn't have to be this strong Aleks. You're a kid too, the kids are lucky to have you to count on." He told her, kissing her forehead. She scrubbed a hand across her face, removing any leftover tears.

"I have to go back out there and help deal with the kids. You ok daddy?" she asked, forcing the strength back into her voice once again.

"Aleks…" he rebuked, seeing the look on her face switch back to a look that was much too mature for a fifteen year old. "You don't need to do this." But even as he said it, he knew that wasn't true. The other kids _needed _her to be the adult.

"I do, dad. And you know it." She smiled. "Are you ok though?" His eyes flickered toward Natasha and that was all the answer she needed. "Mom will fight. She won't leave you willingly, dad." She assured him. Clint nodded.

"I know." And Aleks was gone. Clint exhaled, dropping heavily into the chair he had stationed at her bedside, picking up her hand again.

Aleks stepped into the hallway and was immediately flanked by Phillip and T.J.

"How's мама?" Phil asked quietly. Aleks dropped to her knees so that she was level with him. Aleks had made the decision not to lie to her brother about things like this the day he turned six. It did no good to tell him that she was ok, and have her die on him. That gave him false hope and that was mean.

"She's still fighting, Phil." She told him. He nodded, blinking back more tears yet again before he was pulled down the hallway by Erik. Aleks staggered to her feet, immediately feeling strong arms wrap around her waist. She turned in T.J.'s grasp, burying her face in his chest. She knew that he knew she had cried. T.J. could pretty much feel the pain, worry, and fear rolling off of her in waves.

"How's she doing?" he asked softly. She shivered, pressing her face impossible closer to his chest as if he could will the mental images away. But as she tried to answer him, the images resurfaced and her breathing picked up. He rubbed her back with the hand he pulled away from her waist, touching his lips to the top of her head.

"She's alive." She answered again. "At least that's what the machine says. You couldn't tell by looking at her." She whispered hoarsely. Then clearing her throat, she put the emotions on lockdown like her mom often did and pulled away from T.J. The teenager took her hand and let her lead him in the general direction of the kids.

Pepper was leant up against Tony's shoulder, half asleep, watching the kids with tired eyes. Tony was slumped against the wall; eyes only half open no matter how many times he forced them open. Jane was nursing a cup of coffee, massaging Thor's hand in her own. The Thunder God was on the verge of passing out yet he managed to keep most of his weight off of his mortal wife. Steve was braced against the wall, his exhaustion evident in his unenergetic reactions to the kids' pulling on him. Bruce leaned against the wall, flipping listlessly through his book. The men hadn't slept since their mission, and the women had spent the whole of the previous night glued to the TV. And it was 3:30 in the morning the night after the battle. Aleks put on her best 'argue-with-me-and-you-die' face that had been undoubtedly passed down from her mom.

"All of you, bed. I can watch them now." She offered. The adults grumbled in defeat, too tired to argue with her and the threatening fire in her eyes.

"You'll let us know if-?" Steve began nervously.

"'Course Cap." Leks promised.

"You know where I am if you need me." He called over his shoulder. The family members each disappeared into their own rooms down the hall.

Down stairs, in the mess hall, Aleks and T.J. were trying to keep the young, stir-crazy children quiet. They had gone so far as to throw food at each other before Aleks finally put her foot down. The kids took a minute to gauge how serious she was before sitting down and finishing their SHIELD made meal in obedient quiet.

Clint's head snapped up with supernatural speed as Natasha's rapidly warming hand twitched in his.

"Tasha?" he called excitedly. She whimpered quietly in response, her eyes scrunching up against the white light. He rubbed the back of her hand with his thumb, waiting patiently. Finally, her eyes opened, revealing her bright, though tired, green eyes. He laughed in relief, dropping his chin to his chest. "Oh, Nat." he sighed, lightly kissing the back of her hand, ever wary of her IV. She glanced down at her pale arms, frowning at the amount of tubes protruding from them. She lifted the hand that Clint wasn't holding. It seemed too heavy to her weak body, she draped it over her stomach so she could start taking the tubes out. But as pressure was put on her stitches, she yelped, tears leaking from her eyes. He hushed her, pressing his lips to her forehead. "You really want them out?" he asked warily. She nodded. "All but the IV, deal?" she nodded, an action that pulled uncomfortably at the nasal cannula. He ripped the tape off each needle entry point, gently sliding each from her skin. She winced, if only minimally. "Better?" he asked, as the last one was removed. She nodded and coughed; another action that brought tears to her eyes, as it sent searing pain through her chest. Clint squeezed her hand gently, leaning behind him to grab the small glass of water on the bedside table. He held it for her, barely tilting it as she took a small sip.

"'re you ok?" she mumbled in an inaudible voice. His eyebrows shot up his forehead; he was too surprised to even laugh.

"Natasha Barton, are you serious?" he gaped. Her eyes fluttered in an affirmative response. "You are insane." He muttered. "Yeah, I'm good." He answered. She opened her mouth to ask another question. "Yes, the kids are fine. Leks saw you while you were comatose, just so you know." He grimaced. "Yes, we won the battle. Obviously." Her eyes fluttered closed again. "I love you, so much Tasha." He whispered, pressing his lips against her forehead. "Go to sleep, Nat." he ordered, kissing her lips.

"Love you." She replied barely before she passed out.

"Miss Barton, report to the infirmary." A voice came over the intercom. Aleks froze.

"I'll bring them up. Go." T.J. whispered to her. She nodded glancing at her friend in silent thanks. She kissed each of the kids and ran from the mess hall. Aleks skidded to a graceful stop in front of her mom's hospital room. She held her breath as she pushed the door open. Instead of whatever she expected, she saw her mom's green eyes and a thin tired smile on her face.

"Hey Mëд." She greeted. Aleks smiled and waved at her. Natasha sighed; Aleks _was _scared of her, even if subconsciously. "C'mere Leks." She called. Clint watched, forcing himself to keep his face black as he anticipated his wife's next move. He shot her a warning glance before his poker face returned. Natasha bit down on a small section of her tongue and lifted her arm up, nodding to her daughter. Aleks took a step back.

"No мама." She said fiercely. Natasha shot her the same convincing glare Aleks was giving her. But Natasha had had decades more practice. Aleks held her breath against the sadly familiar smell of her mother's blood, and approached her. Aleks hugged her softly, wary of her wounds. Clint tangled his fingers in her hair in an act of reassurance. He _knew _how much that hurt her. "I missed you." Aleks whispered.

"Missed you too Mëд." She replied in a slightly strained voice. "How's Phil?"She asked, her eyes fluttering. Clint knew she was going to pass out soon.

"Scared but strong." She answered, realizing the same thing her dad just had.

"Daddy's son." She rasped. "Love you both." She whispered before her eyes. Aleks smiled, turning around to face her dad.

"Did the guys go home?" Clint asked, motioning for Aleks to sit on his knee. She sat down and barked a short condescending laugh.

"Not quite. Aunt Pepper convinced SHIELD to let us stay in the rooms down the hall."Clint chuckled, and he and his daughter sat in silence watching the unsteady rise and fall of Natasha's chest. They stayed like that until a few nurses came in to change the bandaging around her upper-body. Barton kissed his daughter and kicked her out without a word. That girl had seen a lot and he didn't want to add 'seeing multiple holes in her mom's chest' to that list. Aleks turned around just before the door closed to see Clint hovering over Natasha and holding her down.

Phillip pulled the girls over to the wall adjacent to the one T.J. leant against, waiting for Aleks. He sat down and pulled Mja and Avery down beside him. Erik sat on his twin's opposite side. Phillip put an arm around each girl and began telling a story.

Aleks stepped out of the room and looked up to see T.J. leaning unmoving against the wall across from her. Aleks granted him a little smile.

"She's awake." She told him excitedly. He smiled at her, walking forward to embrace her. She wrapped her arms around his chest, looking up at him.

"I love you, you know." He told her, leaning his forehead against hers.

"Love you too, T.J." she promised, closing the gap between them and kissing him for the third time. A small giggle brought the teens apart. T.J. raised his eyebrows in amusement when he realized it was his mom and Aunt Jane who were guilty. Aleks laughed nervously, dropping her gaze to the floor.

Natasha sat up in the reclining chair in the living room, three weeks after Aleks and T.J.'s third kiss. She was beyond exhausted and her chest was killing her, but the kids were so excited to finally see her, she couldn't just walk away. Clint was continually rubbing the back of her hand with his thumb which was helping to dull the pain a little. She had seen it coming for months but she still listened with rapt attention as Avery gave Natasha and Clint a re-cap of T.J. and Aleks' third kiss in the hallway.

Natasha glanced slyly at her daughter who shrugged and blushed but didn't move from where her head rested against her boyfriend's shoulder.

Finally, when the pain had reached a point where it was becoming increasingly difficult to stay conscious, she squeezed Clint's hand. He was up and helping her carefully to her feet before she could blink. Each child came up to her and kissed her cheek. Each of the men smiled at her and _gently _put their hand on her shoulder. As soon as they were in the shelter of the hallway, Clint, so gently and smoothly that it caused her no pain at all, lifted her bridal style and carried his assassin to their bedroom.

Aleks was asleep in minutes. The kids were taken to bed. Pepper flung a blanket out over the teenagers and watched them for a minute. They were undeniably adorable together. Even Pepper, as the boy's mom, had to admit that.

T.J. listened to the fading footsteps and opened his eyes. Aleksandra Barton was the most beautiful girl he had ever laid eyes on. And being the son of Tony Stark meant he had laid eyes on a lot of girls. But she topped them all and best of all, she was his. Just as he was hers.

Auntie Tasha was ok, everyone was happy and he had finally kissed Aleks. He fell asleep with a small smile, knowing it would still be that way in the morning.


	6. Once in a Lifetime

**ONCE IN A LIFETIME **

**_First Date_**

Clint Barton sat down across from a nervous eighteen year old T.J. Stark, glaring at him. Clint took a deep breath, leaning forward, ties to the boy completely forgotten as he contemplated the question.

"You want to take Aleks out on a date?" he asked dangerously.

"Yes sir." T.J. confirmed, looking his uncle in the eyes. Clint leaned back again.

"Where?" Clint demanded. T.J. fought back a smile.

"Taureau, on East 7th Street." He answered obediently.

"Times?" He asked sighing.

"Seven to nine." T.J. replied patiently. Clint sighed again.

"Happy stays," Clint ordered, continuing when T.J. opened his mouth to protest. "…in the car."

"Soo… that's a…?" he prodded hopefully.

"That's a yes." Clint grumbled. T.J. stood up and held a hand out to his uncle. Clint stood as well and shook the boy's hand.

"Thanks Unc- I mean, thank you Mr. Barton." T.J. stammered professionally. Clint rolled his eyes and slapped T.J.'s shoulder.

"I'm still your uncle, kid. Just don't hurt my daughter and you should make it out of this alive." Hawkeye threatened, ruffling the now terrified looking boy's hair. Clint turned to leave. "One more thing," he called over his shoulder. "You get to tell everyone else." He smirked. T.J. scowled and headed off to find his aunt.

He poked his head into the training room, groaning when he saw his red head aunt beating a punching bag to a pulp. He rapped loudly on the door, hoping he wouldn't have to move closer until she saw him first. That scenario was more likely than not to end painfully for him.

"Auntie Tasha!" he yelled loudly. Her head snapped in his direction, after her last punch.

"Hey Stark. What's up?" she greeted, walking towards him as she pulled off her boxing gloves.

"I already asked Uncle Clint. And he said yes…" he started, looking at the floor.

"Asked Uncle Clint what?" she hedged, brushing a sweat soaked strand of hair out of her face. He looked up to meet her eyes respectively.

"If I could take Aleks on a date." He told her.

"Ah." Natasha smirked. "It's about time." He blushed. "Where?"

"Taureau." He replied. Natasha nodded approvingly.

"Does Leks know?" T.J. shook his head. The red head slung a towel over her shoulder.

"Good luck." And she was gone. T.J. let out a relieved breath before heading off to find Captain America.

"Where's Steve?" T.J. asked the AI.

"Captain Rogers is in the first floor bar, sir." Jarvis replied.

"Thanks."

"Of course, sir." The computer replied while T.J. stepped onto the elevator and hit the glowing button that read '2'.

"Hey, son." The man greeted, setting his glass of scotch down on the counter.

"Hey Uncle Steve." T.J. said, sitting down on a stool. Steve took another swig of his drink before sliding it aside, waiting for T.J. to speak. "I'm taking Aleks on a date tonight." T.J. said. The Captain's eyebrows rose and he immediately reached for his drink again.

"Are you now?" Steve chugged the rest of the glass.

"Yeah." T.J. rubbed the back of his neck awkwardly. "Got any advice?" he asked, hoping to break the awkward ice that had formed. Steve leaned forward on his elbow, smirking knowingly.

"Don't kid yourself into thinking you know what she's thinking, for one. And all other advice is void considering she's already whipped you into shape." Steve told him contemplatively. T.J. grimaced. "Be careful with her." He added quietly.

"I could never hurt her." T.J. replied seriously.

"I know," he sighed.

"Thanks Uncle Steve." T.J. got up to leave.

"Of course son." T.J. smiled genuinely at him and slipped into the elevator again. Steve watched him disappear before reaching for the half empty bottle, forgetting about his glass.

"TELL YOUR MOTHER WE WILL BE UP IN TIME FOR DINNER!" Tony shouted dismissively as his son stepped into the foul smelling room. Bruce and Tony had been down in the lab for the last three days, and, judging by the smell, hadn't taken a break yet.

"Actually dad-" T.J. interjected.

"Hit the deck!" Tony yelled, dropping to his stomach. Bruce, eyes tinged pale green, followed shortly. T.J. barely had time to hide behind a metal pillar before whatever they'd been working on, blew. Bruce lifted his head and glared at the sheepish millionaire.

"What do you need T.J.?" Bruce asked, brushing his hands off on his filthy shirt.

"Just came to tell you I'm taking Aleks out tonight." He mumbled. Bruce raised his eyebrows but didn't have time to reply before Tony came up and bodily knocked him out of the way.

"Up high, little man." Tony grinned. T.J. turned red, high five-ing his father. "Where?"

"Taureau on East 7th." T.J. said for what seemed like the hundredth time.

"Classy." He said proudly, making a big show of stepping aside and waving Bruce forward. The doctor scowled.

"Good luck T.J." he smiled. "Now, your dad has some clean-" he turned around as he heard Tony ordering a robot around. Bruce sighed and started scolding his friend, completely forgetting about his nephew. T.J. laughed, shaking his head bemusedly as he left. Five down, five to go. He searched the common floor, finding Thor and Jane in the kitchen, making a mess out of the refrigerator's contents. T.J. cleared his throat, immediately gaining their attention. Jane covered her mouth to stifle the giggles.

"Hello, T.J." Thor greeted, wrapping an arm around Jane's waist after his booming laugh quieted.

"Hey Uncle Thor, Aunt Jane. Uncle Clint said I have to tell you I'm taking Leks out tonight." He repeated. He listened absently to their congratulations before going off to find his mom.

After fifteen minutes of searching, he found her in the fourth floor kitchen. A crying Mja sat on the counter, hugging her plush Mjolnir to her chest. Phil sat next to her, holding her hand and Erik leaned against a stool looking concerned. Pepper laid a Band-Aid over six year old scraped knee, hissing her niece's forehead.

"Mom, you need to promise you won't squeal ok?" she turned around and nodded confusedly. "I'm taking Leks on a date tonight. Pepper bit her fist and scooped T.J. into a giant hug.

"Congratulations honey! Good luck." Before she could continue, T.J. interrupted.

"Now I have to tell Aleks. Bye, mom!" she watched his hasty exit, smiling after her eighteen year old son.

He finally found Avery and Aleks in the media room, watching cheesy DC cartoons and laughing at the ridiculousness. He leaned against the door frame, taking a deep breath. He had spent the last three hours getting permission from EVERYONE else, now he just needed her to say yes.

"Hey, Leks?" he called into the room. Her head quickly snapped in his direction, her eyes automatically lighting up. She flipped off the couch, graceful as ever. Aleks made her way over to where he stood; the unspoken question in her eyes. "Excuse us, Ave?" he called, pulling Aleks around the corner. He took a deep breath, preparing to fit the question into one breath. "Ok, I already asked _everyone's _permission so it's just you. Do you wanna go out with me tonight?" he finished gasping. She laughed a little at him.

"You asked dad already?" she asked cautiously. He huffed a laugh.

"And Auntie Tasha, and Steve, and…" he was shut up by her lips on his.

"It's about time." She breathed.

"Soo… that's a…" he prompted.

"That's a yes." Déjà vu hit him hard as the words left her lips. He chuckled, kissing her forehead.

"I'll see you at seven." She nodded. "Plug your ears when you tell her." He whispered in her ear. She nodded again. "Love you Leks." She kissed him again.

"Love you more." Before she spun around and went to tell Avery.

Four hours later, T.J. stood over his dresser, flinging numerous shirts over shoulder onto the floor. Suddenly, he caught sight of Avery in his peripheral vision. She surveyed the shirts on the floor and fought back a giggle. The seven year old shuffled silently around the room, T.J. watching her curiously. She picked up a silk dark green shirt and dark blue jeans, tossing them in his direction.

"Put those on." She ordered, a perfect image of her mother with her hand on her hip, daring him to argue. He changed obediently and turned to his sister to await further instructions. She pointed to the bed. "Sit." He sat. She walked towards his closet and crawled in, sifting through his shoes. She threw his black and green Osiris tennis shoes over her shoulder. T.J. dodged them, chuckling quietly as she tossed a pair of black socks at him. He put them on, tying them while she moved over to him again. She assessed his black hair, mussing it with her little fingers. "Ok…done." She muttered, stepping back. T.J. crouched in front of his little sister.

"Thank you, Ave." he said sincerely, smoothing her strawberry blonde hair, and kissing her forehead.

"Go. Your late." She smirked. He laughed.

"I owe you one." He called, grabbing his wallet and phone off the counter.

Aleks stood in front of her full length mirror. She scrutinized the lace dress over the grey tank top, looking herself over with an unsure expression. She caught Phil's reflection in the mirror and spun around with a nervous expression.

"You look amazing." Her ten year old brother promised. She turned back around and fidgeted with her wavy black hair. "Where these." He instructed, tossing her a pair of silver one inch heels. She smiled gratefully at him, slipping them on. She put on one more layer of lip gloss and turned around sheepishly. He threw her hand bag up, knowing she'd catch it. "He's so lucky." Phil told her, hugging his older sister. She smiled.

"Thanks Phil." She said sincerely. He nodded.

"Anytime. Now, go!" he laughed, shoving her out of her bedroom. Aleks made her way to the living room where T.J. was already waiting for her. His brown eyes widened at the sight of her.

"You look…" he swallowed. "Beautiful, Aleks." He finished, looking her in the eyes.

"You don't look too bad yourself, slick." She smiled, moving forward to un tuck his shirt. He bent his head and kissed her.

"Ready to go?" he asked. She nodded. He wrapped an arm around her waist and led her to his dad's Porsche.

Avery and Phillip pressed their faces against the window, high five-ing as their sibling climbed into the car and drove off on their first date.

_**Welcome Home **_

Sixteen year old Aleks Barton leaned restlessly against the back of the couch. Three days ago, Tony had dragged T.J. off to a car show in Italy as a belated birthday present. It had been the longest the two best friends had ever been separated and they had missed each other more than they had anticipated.

"Sit down, hon, knowing Tony, they'll be late." Pepper instructed from where she sat with a sleeping Avery in her lap. It was 12:45 in the morning. The other family members were 'asleep'. Which usually meant that Bruce had fallen asleep in the lab, Clint and Natasha, if they weren't already, would be working off a nightmare anytime now and Steve would wake in a couple hours depending on when he fell asleep. Jane, Thor, Mja, Erik, Phil, and Avery were the only people in the tower who got a healthy amount of sleep on a regular basis.

The sound of the lock clicking automatically claimed Aleks' attention. She waited with unnatural patience (inherited from her dad), for the door to actually open before moving away from the couch. T.J.'s eyes widened and he smiled as he caught sight of the assassin's daughter. Pepper stood up, cradling her six year old as she walked toward her husband. Tony hugged her, careful not to crush Avery. T.J. dropped his small suitcase and enveloped Aleks in a hug. He buried his face in her hair, breathing the scent of her cherry blossom shampoo.

"Did you have fun?" she whispered against his chest.

"Yes… but it still wasn't worth it." He muttered. "I missed you." He admitted. She looked up at him, the same showing in her eyes. "I also missed this." He said, before crashing his lips down on hers. Pepper hastily dragged Tony away before he could interrupt or embarrass them.

T.J. and Aleks jumped apart when someone cleared their throat. Aleks blushed redder than her mother's hair when she saw her father standing in the doorway, leaning against the wall in the shadows.

"Hey daddy." She greeted quietly.

"Hey." He replied simply. Clint pushed off the wall and walked in their direction but Aleks kept her arms around T.J.'s chest. T.J. looked awkwardly at the floor, preparing for impact. But Hawkeye only maneuvered around them, grabbed two water bottles from the fridge, kissed Aleks goodnight, and left. Aleks turned to her boyfriend wide-eyed. He breathed a relieved laugh and pulled his undoubtedly tired girlfriend towards the couch. He sat down, pulled her down next to him and picked a random channel. He spent the rest of the night and morning, even after she had unwillingly drifted off, playing with her hair and watching her angelic face.

_**Brotherly Love**_

Nine year old Avery Stark flinched awake. Her purple tank top and white shorts clung to her sweat-soaked skin. She hugged her knees to her chest, willing the shaking to stop as images of her being kidnapped and used against her dad replayed in her mind. Before she knew why or what she was doing, she found herself standing outside Phillip's bedroom door.

Phil had always been a very light sleeper; he got that from his mom. So when a timid knock sounded on his door, he heard it, even in the depths of sleep. He walked to the door, running a hand through his scarlet hair. Flinging the door open, his heart broke a little at the sight of his terrified looking cousin.

"Hi Phil." She greeted sheepishly. He smiled a sad, understanding smile and pulled her sweaty, shaking hand into his. The eleven year old turned his back to the scared little girl and rummaged in his dresser for a minute. He draped a tee-shirt over his shoulder and turned back to Avery. He arched an eyebrow at her, waiting for an answer to his silent question. She nodded.

Phillip pulled her tank top over her head and switched it out with his over-sized tee shirt. The images flicked through her head again and tears welled in her eyes.

"You ok, Ave?" he asked as he hugged her. She nodded against his shoulder. "Want to tell me?" he asked, ignoring her previous reply. She took a shaky breath.

"They kidnapped me… and tortured me to get my dad to…" she gasped, tears leaking down her face. He led her to the small bed, helping his little 'sister' under the covers.

"Shh Ave. You're safe." He promised, hushing her. "I won't let anything hurt you." _Or Mja, or Erik, or T.J. or Aleks for that matter. _He wrapped an arm tighter around her waist and kissed her cheek. Avery had never had a crush on Phillip. He was many things to her; a big brother, a best friend but never a crush. Phillip rubbed his cousin's back until she fell asleep and he followed soon after.

Avery's nightmares didn't dare make another appearance in the face of the 'brother' who would run through hell to protect her, and they slept until Erik was sent to get them.

**_Prince and Princess_**

Erik and Mja sat down on the couch across from their dad. Jane sat beside Thor, trying in vain to hide her grin.

"Are we in trouble?" Mja asked carefully. Thor laughed once, his usual deep booming laugh that the kids had long since stopped wincing at.

"On the contrary." Thor replied.

"Your father has to leave for Asgard for a few days." Jane began. Mja and Erik's expressions saddened. "And you're going with him." The ten year olds mouths hit the floor.

"Seriously?!" they shouted simultaneously. Jane nodded slowly, a hint of something childishly close to jealousy flashing in her eyes.

"Unless you don't want to go…" Thor tested.

"No! I mean yes, yes we want to go. When do we leave?" Erik stammered. Thor looked to Jane.

"Two hours. Go pack." She smiled, laying her hand on top of Thor's. Erik grabbed Mja's hand and ran from the room.

"Why are you sad, love?" Thor asked, looking down at the brunette.

"My ten year olds get to go and I don't." she pouted. He frowned. "Would you like them to stay with you?" he offered.

"No, go. Mja's been waiting to meet Sif forever. And they deserve to meet their grandparents." She said. "I'm going to go help them." She kissed Thor quickly and left. She stepped into the kids' bedroom to find their entire closet spread out on the floor. "MJA DARCY THORSON!" Jane scolded.

"Hey, who said it was me?" she whined innocently.

"Erik?" Jane asked. The mom almost laughed at her son's horrified/innocent expression. "I'm guessing." She supplied. Mja deflated slightly. "Want to take your poster of Sif? I bet she'll autograph it." Jane tried as she picked clothes up off the floor. Mja perked up immediately and ran to wall where the picture of her dad's fellow ruler hung. Erik was done packing long before Mja was, but they were on time none the less. On the roof, Thor kissed Jane goodbye, much longer than necessary resulting in their kids' ultimate embarrassment. Mja and Erik stood still as Thor scooped them into one arm, and used Mjolnir to summon lighting as they disappeared with a flash.

Thor laughed at the twins matching doe eyes and wide open mouths. Their wide blue eyes stared at the large man standing at the end of the broken bridge.

"HEIMDALL!" Thor greeted loudly. "Meet my children, Mja and Erik." The stared wide-eyed at the gold-clad figure.

"It's a pleasure to meet you, in person." Heimdall said, bowing before the young royals. They nodded in acknowledgement. Thor led them away and they walked further down the pulsing rainbow bridge.

"It's beautiful." Mja gasped.

"It is." Thor agreed. Erik just nodded dumbly in agreement. They moved at a snail's pace because the kids had to analyze each streak of colored light. Thor didn't mind though; the more time he had to commit his son and daughter's awed expressions to memory the better. They finally reach the end of the bridge and were met with the glittering sight of the city of Asgard. Their eyes grew impossibly wider and their mouths finally closed. Mja opened and closed her mouth a few times as if she wanted to say something but couldn't figure out what. Thor chuckled, lifted a kid into each arm and walked forward. "What do you think?" Thor asked.

"It's AWESOME!" the both shouted. Thor smiled and came to a stop in front of the palace. He set them down, pushing the heavy door open. "Whoa." They gasped.

"THOR!" a child's voice shouted. Thor crouched down as a small, dark haired boy raced towards him.

"Hello, Hermódr." Thor greeted. "Mja, Erik, meet my successor, Hermódr, son of Lady Sif." Hermódr drew himself up to his full height, looking proud. "Hermódr, this is my son Erik and my daughter, Mja." The kids waved to each other. "Lady Sif!" Thor boomed, arms wide. Hermódr took that as his cue to leave. Thor hugged his old friend. A small squeal from behind them drew their attention. Thor held a hand out to Mja and pulled her forward. "Lady Sif, this is my daughter, Mja Darcy Thorson. Mja, this is Lady Sif. She rules Asgard when I am on Midgard." He introduced.

"Midgard?" Erik asked, stepping up beside his dad.

"Earth." Thor explained. "And this is my son, Erik Fandral Thorson. In honor of our fallen friend." He told her. She nodded solemnly. "I will tell you that story another time, my son." Thor said at his son's confused expression.

"Hello Erik, Mja." The war goddess said in turn. Mja suddenly threw her backpack on the marble floor and dropped to her knees, rummaging through her pack. She found what she was looking for and got to her feet. "Hi. Would you mind signing this." She asked timidly. Sif laughed quietly.

"Of course." She agreed, taking the pen and poster from the excited girl. As Sif finished signing her scrawling signature, Thor addressed her.

"What news have you of Loki?" he asked in a low voice, saddening noticeably. Sif sighed, looking Thor in the eyes.

"His punishment continues. He refuses to back down." She told him sadly. He looked down at the glistening floor.

"Who's Loki?" Mja asked. Thor looked at his daughter, at a loss of how to explain his lost brother. But Mja was like her mother in that sense; when she wanted answers, she got them.

"Would you like to see the weapons vault?" Sif offered, coming to Thor's rescue. Mja nodded eagerly. Sif offered the young girl her hand and led her from the throne room. Thor knew Erik was tactful enough to drop it, thankfully.

"Would you like a tour?" he asked his quiet son. The boy nodded, watching his dad carefully as if he was afraid he would cry.

First, Thor brought Erik to the dining hall, where he met Volstagg. Thor was amused to learn that his close friend intimidated his son. He proceeded to show him every room on the first floor, including his own bedroom.

An hour later, Sif and Mja and Thor and Erik met up again. The brother and sister rushed to each other immediately and gushed about the amazing things they had seen.

"Dad! Did you know Mi and I are royalty here?" Erik chirped excitedly.

"I did." Thor said smiling. Erik shot him a toothy grin and turned back to his sister. Thor stood back and watched them.

"Your daughter has the makings of a great warrior." Sif mused. Thor shot her a big smile.

"She's her mother's daughter." He explained. Sif nodded thoughtfully.

"And you. I see you in her as well. …her spirit is too big to be that of a mortal. No harm intended." She told him. He nodded. "Granted, I see much more of you in him." She agreed.

"So I've been told." They stood in silence for a few minutes before Odin and Frigga joined them. Thor's mother gasped, covering her mouth as she gazed at her grandchildren. She got down on her knees so she could talk to them at their level.

"You must be Mja." She said to the confused girl. Mja nodded. "And you, Erik?" she asked, looking at the boy. She couldn't help but notice every bit of Thor in them. He nodded. Thor came to stand behind his children.

"This is your grandmother." He told them. They both processed the sentence for a minute before smiling and hugging the regal woman. "And this, your grandfather." He gestured to Odin. Odin held his hand out to the kids to shake, and was rather taken aback when the hugged him simultaneously.

"Hello, children. Thor, your mother and I talked it over. We'd like to spend time with the children until dinner, if you don't mind. You could use the time to speak with your friends."

"Mi, Erik?" Thor said, in asking for permission. They both nodded enthusiastically. Thor kissed each of their heads and he and Lady Sif left, leaving Odin and Frigga with their ten year old grandchildren.

"You decided on the boy's name?" Volstagg boomed, referring to Erik's middle name.

"Erik Fandral Thorson." Thor replied, downing the rest of his glass. Hogun reached over and filled everyone's glass.

"To our fallen comrade," he said, raising his glass in the air. Sif, Volstagg, Hogun and Thor downed that cup as well, the three more sensible sliding their glasses aside. The four companions sat in silence for a while, happy to be in each other's company.

"And this is purely a social visit?" Sif clarified.

"Yes, Mja and Erik were finally old enough to visit." He explained.

"What do you think we are having for dinner? I'm starving!" Volstagg shouted. And suddenly the room seemed rather empty without Fandral's comeback.

"I should see how mother and father are fairing with the children." Thor announced, standing from his chair.

"We will see you at dinner?" Sif stood as well.

"Of course." He assured, leaving the room after a nod of goodbye.

Thor watched from the door as Frigga stood behind Mja while she pet the horses. And while Odin led a horse that Erik was riding.

"Perhaps we should clean up for dinner?" Thor announced quietly. Frigga turned to face him, a smile on her face unlike any Thor had seen since before Loki had left them.

"I have something I'd like Mja to wear if it fits her, if you don't mind." Frigga said.

"Not at all."

"And I, Erik." Odin interceded.

"I'll meet you in the dining hall, then?" Thor said in way of consent. They nodded and led their grandchildren in separate directions.

Thirty minutes later, Thor waited in the dining hall for his family. First, Odin and Erik joined him. Erik was dressed in a crimson outfit that Thor recognized as a garment that had been passed down three generations.

"How do I look dad?" he asked hopefully.

"Like a Prince." Thor answered truthfully. He ran off to speak with Hermódr where he stood on the other side of the room. Thor and Odin spoke quietly and waited for the girls. Soon, Frigga appeared, but without Mja. The older woman looked as if she had been crying, and Thor grew worried.

"Where's…?" he began, when he caught a small figure out of the corner of his eye. He did a double take when he realized that the radiant Princess in the doorway was _his daughter._

"She's beautiful isn't she?" Frigga asked quietly. No, Thor always thought she was beautiful, but now she was striking, and regal. And Thor suddenly understood why Frigga had been crying. Mja's golden hair fell around her shoulders in blonde waves. A silver flowing gown Thor knew to have belonged to his mother when she was a little girl fit her perfectly.

"Daddy?" she called quietly.

"Mja, you're stunning." He whispered, taking her hand.

"Thank you." She replied. As the night went on, the kids grew more and more tired. By 9:30, they were sitting in exhausted silence beside their father. By 10, they were each leaning against opposite shoulders. And by 10:30, Mja and Erik were both asleep with their heads in Thor's lap. As the dinner party drew to a close, he bid his friends and family goodnight, and carried his son and daughter to his room, laid them in his bed, and fell asleep between them.

_**Stealing Cinderella**_

19 year old TJ Stark pushed Aleks' bedroom door open, groaning in frustration when he found it empty.

"Would you like to know the whereabouts of Miss Barton?" Jarvis offered dutifully.

"No thanks. I think I'm good." TJ replied.

"Very well, sir." The computer said. TJ shoved his hands deep in his pockets and set off to find his best friend.

He found her by accident in the end. He was coming back from checking the training room and the shooting range when he heard music coming from one of the rooms that no one really ever used. Eyebrows furrowing in curiosity, the scientist's son turned around and went back the way he'd come. He walked to the very end of the long hallway, coming to the empty observation room, complete with one way glass. He could see Leks, but she couldn't see him. In less than a minute of watching, he had become helplessly mesmerized. As he listened, he recognized the song as 'Secrets', one of her favorites. She started to spin flawlessly across the floor. He watched three songs filled with arabesques, spins, graceful jumps and other moves he would never know the name for. All he could see, all he could _feel, _was her, and the way she moved. His attention was only dragged away from her when something moved out of the shadows. T.J.'s eyes immediately flicked back to the window.

"I didn't know she danced…" T.J. said quietly. "Like this." He amended.

"It's her mother in her." Clint replied, just as silently, eyes trained on her as well. They stood in comfortable silence for a minute before T.J. finally forced himself to look at his uncle. The raw emotion in his eyes took T.J. by surprise. The assassin usually kept his expressions so well guarded. Then, T.J. surprised himself by recognizing that look.

"She's still your little girl, you know. She always will be." The younger man said. Clint nodded, eyes never leaving his daughter's captivating movements.

"She was never a little girl." Clint argued, regretfully.

"No," T.J. agreed cautiously. "But she was always _your _little girl."

Clint stayed silent at that. Then his voice dropped even lower. "Please don't ever hurt her." T.J. was growing more and more shocked by the second. This was so unlike the man he knew.

"I can't." he said in way of promise. She twirled around, stopping in front of a mirror and dropping to her knees, sliding backwards onto her back before rolling up again. "She's so beautiful." T.J. whispered in awe.

"You have more Pepper in you than people realize." Clint said suddenly. T.J. cocked his head at him. "I know you're waiting until I leave." He smirked, clapping his nephew on the shoulder before turning to leave. "See you at dinner." He called. T.J. nodded in acknowledgment.

"Oh! Uncle Clint," T.J. called after him. Clint raised his eyebrows.

"I have no intention of stealing Cinderella." He said shyly. Clint shot him a genuine smile.

"You already have." And the older man was gone. T.J. sighed, he knew that he had. That doesn't mean he felt good about it. Pushing the conversation further back in his mind for later recall, he made his way down the short staircase and into the room where Aleks had been dancing.

She stopped short and turned bright red when she saw him in the doorway.

"How long have you…?" she stammered. He waved his hand dismissively, holding a hand out to her as another song began. She pushed a loose strand of hair behind her ear, dramatically placing her hand in his. He took her small hand in his and lifted it up to his shoulder, one of his hands closed around the right side of her waist, and the other just held her hand as they swayed to the music. Aleks laughed a little when the song changed abruptly, to _their _song. "You think your dad will ever stop updating that AI?" she asked.

"As long as it keeps him alive during a battle…" T.J. shrugged. Aleks nodded her agreement.

"I talked with your dad." He murmured.

"Wait, dad watched?" she asked worriedly. He nodded.

"Not the point. It was weird… he wasn't…Hawkeye." T.J. stammered.

"What was he then?" she asked in incredulous amusement.

"A dad." He answered confusedly. Aleks huffed a laugh and leaned her head on his shoulder.

"That would make sense." She muttered sarcastically.

"No, I mean…" he started. Aleks shook her head back and forth along his collar bone.

"I know what you meant." She said. T.J. took a moment to focus completely on the feeling of her small frame in his arms before he spoke again.

"Do you think I'm more my mom or dad?" he asked. Aleks' lifted her head at the sudden question. For some reason, he desperately wanted the answer, that much was clear in his deep russet eyes. The eyes that she so often got lost in, just as she was doing now.

"I think…" she began. "I think that it depends who your with. When you're with anyone outside this family, you're your dad through and through. It varies when you're with the rest of the family. But when your with me," she paused to kiss him. "You're Pepper all the way." She finished.

"So I'm my dad." He deduced. She thought it over. The way Tony was a total snarky-arrogant _jerk_ in public, unless he was talking to Pepper. The way he could be anywhere from tolerable, to friendly, to intolerable with the rest of the Avengers family, unless he was talking to Pepper. And finally the way he was when he was alone with Pepper, which few rarely witnessed. Then she looked up at T.J.

"Yeah." She answered. He nodded, smirking.

"You're are an amazing dancer." He told her offhand. "Why didn't I know about it?" he asked, slightly offended. She shrugged.

"I'm not that good." She said seriously.

"And people think you have more of your mom in you…" he scoffed. She definitely got the lack of confidence in herself and insecurity from her dad. "You _are _that good." He promised. She shook her head. Sighing in exasperation, T.J. kissed the top of her head and let it drop.

They danced until dinner was about to start and Aleks was nearly asleep against her TJ's chest.

_**Russian Lullaby **_

_Aleks ran, laughing as T.J. fell further and further behind her. As she glanced over her shoulder, she noted that he wasn't even in her line of sight anymore. Coming to a stop, she walked towards a tree, leaning against it as she caught her breath. She was only standing alone for five minutes before T.J.'s strong arms wrapped around her and threw her over his shoulder. She screeched empty death threats, pounding on his chest. Suddenly, the left arm he had left around her waist tightened, and he threw her on the ground. She winced as her head crashed down on the ground. _

_ "Ow. What was that for?" she asked, rubbing the back of her head with one hand, and pushing herself into a sitting position with the other. Suddenly, T.J. was on top of her, hand on her chest to push her to the ground again. Fear and confusion flooded Aleks' stormy eyes as he pulled a knife. As she looked up to meet his eyes, she screamed. They weren't his eyes. They were bright blue. __**Tesseract blue.**__Her mind supplied. She screamed and thrashed underneath him, even as he brought the knife closer still. _

Aleks jerked awake, a mixture of sweat and tears poured down her face. Pulling her knees up to her chest, she watched the door for family members who she knew would come check on her if her screaming had been out loud.

The night before, Tony had been re-watching video footage from the Loki attack. The fourteen and fifteen year olds had found him and he had let them watch it with him.

T.J. was the first to come. She had thought she'd been prepared for him to make sure she was ok, but she wasn't. She couldn't look him in the eye and as he moved to come closer, she whimpered, flipped off the bed and backed into a corner.

"Leks, it's me." He told her, hands up in submission.

"Please don't." she whimpered, looking at the wall she was cornered in. No matter how hard she tried, she couldn't bring herself to look him in the eye. Without looking, Aleks could tell her dad had entered the room.

Clint looked over his terrified daughter; the way she wouldn't look up, the way she flinched away from her _best friend_, and the screams. He had only ever heard sounds like that when Natasha had nightmares of Clint murdering her. The archer spat a curse and walked cautiously toward his daughter. He crouched down in front of her so that she could look down at him.

"Leksi look at me." He said softly. She looked at his mouth as he spoke. "Look me in the eyes baby girl." He ordered. Her eyes slowly moved up his face, flinching needlessly when she met her father's blue grey eyes. He lifted her bridal style, sitting down on the bed. He held her head to his chest with one hand, the other moving up and down her back as he rocked back and forth. "Alright," he began in a dangerous voice. "Since Cap can't figure out how to use a computer, Bruce would never, Thor can't use a computer, and I know for a fact Tasha wouldn't, I'm going to take a guess and say Tony showed her the video footage." He growled to the people in the doorway. Steve and Bruce stepped back, pulling Thor with them to leave Tony and Natasha in the spotlight. Tony shoved his hands deep in his pockets, looking at the floor. "That's what I thought." Then he turned to look at a very sad T.J. Stark. "Sorry kid. I know, Tasha was scared of me too. Leks will be fine with you by tomorrow." Clint assured him in way of nicely telling him to leave. T.J. turned around and dragged his dad from the room.

Natasha walked towards her husband and daughter, slipping Aleks into her arms and sitting down across from Clint. The mom cradled her daughter in her lap, dragging her fingers through the sweaty hair. Aleks' hands flew involuntarily to her neck where the knife had drawn blood in her mind. Natasha pulled the small hands away, hushing her in a quiet voice that had Clint's eyes fluttering.

"Go deal with Tony." She suggested. Clint didn't need to be told twice and he was gone before Natasha had blinked. "You're ok, Mëд." She promised, whispering the words against the girl's hair. She shivered, snuggling closer to her mom.

"He killed me." She cried.

"I know, Leksi. I used to have those dreams about dad, I still do. _But_," she added when Aleks began to cry. "That's only because it really happened. T.J. would _never _even _consider _hurting you for the world."

"But daddy…" the girl began to argue.

"Daddy was influenced by magic. And should that ever happen to T.J., which it won't, you know we'd protect you. Now, shh Mëд. Go back to sleep." Natasha whispered, beginning to hum Aleks' Russian Lullaby.

The red head assassin-aunt-agent-mom didn't move a muscle for the next seven hours, humming the lullaby through the night, anything to keep the nightmares away.

_**I'll Be**_

Aleks looked over herself in the mirror one last time. She very nearly felt ridiculous in the sleeveless pale blue dress. The silk skirt swirled around her feet like a storm cloud. A glittery silver flower pattern dotted the top, snaking down the center to her waist and covering her right side. Between the carefully picked color of the dress and the meager eye make-up Aunt Pepper had forced on her, her eyes literally looked like lit up ice. Her mom had curled her hair and brushed it out until it fell in loose waves down her back. She had pinned her bangs back, leaving a few wisps to outline her beautiful face. Aleks had borrowed a pair of her mom's smaller heels, just so that she could actually be slightly level with the men.

Natasha stepped quietly into the room, going unnoticed by her confidence-lacking daughter until she stepped right up to her. Natasha gently wrapped one hand around Aleks' upper arm, the other brushing the girl's cheek.

"Александра Бартон, ты такая красивая, мед." She promised quietly. Aleks leaned into the familiar touch.

"Я люблю тебя мама." She replied, looking at the floor.

"I love you more. Now I have to be there when you come downstairs because your father's probably going to cry. So follow me out, ok?" Natasha switched to English, smirking.

"You know, for an assassin, he's got a lot of heart." Aleks said softly. Natasha smiled at the difference in the two people who had ever said that about Clint; lying god, versus beautiful, sweet, daughter.

"You have no idea, Leks." She murmured, slipping out as quietly as she had come. Aleks took a deep breath and stepped into the hallway.

"Pepper, Jane, Steve, Clint, I'm mainly talking to you now, for the love of all things holy, do _not _cry. And Bruce, please cover T.J.'s mouth so that he doesn't drool over that nice suit." T.J. irritably batted the scientist's away as he moved to comply. "I warned you." Natasha defended, gravitating towards Clint and taking his hand.

As Aleks stepped off of the last step, she didn't even bother looking up. She could _feel _every eye boring into her, T.J.'s in particular. Tony was the only adult who made a sound, and that was only to let out a low whistle. A smaller hand slipped into hers and only then did she look up. Phil was looking up at her reassuringly.

She could _hear _T.J.'s heart beating wildly, her dad's choked sounds, Steve's staggered breathing, Pepper and Jane's faint sobs, and Mja and Avery's small gasps.

"Want me to smack 'em?" Phillip offered quietly. She laughed and shook her head.

"Happy sixteenth, Leks." He smiled, standing on tip toe to kiss his sister's cheek. She squeezed his hand and walked towards her dad.

"Hi Daddy." She mumbled, looking at his tie instead of his face.

"Oh, Leksi. You look absolutely gorgeous baby girl." He told her, keeping his voice low.

"Thanks." She replied simply. She finally looked up at him when he didn't say anything. "Oh dad." She sighed, wrapping her arms around his neck. She felt his arms slowly close around her, holding her tight as if she'd disappear. "I'm not going anywhere anytime soon, dad. You can let go." She giggled. The pressure around her waist slowly loosened and she stepped back.

"You better deal with Steve. He's losing it." Clint sniffed, smiling down at Aleks. She raised an eyebrow and turned around; sure enough, there was Uncle Steve swiping at his eyes. "Happy birthday." He finished, kissing her cheek. She rolled her eyes and moved onto Captain America.

"Wanna dance?" she asked, in hopes that that would cheer him up.

"I'd love to Leks." He told her quietly.

And there, in the middle of Avengers Tower, Steve Rogers was the first to dance with the sixteen year old Aleksandra Barton. Next she danced with Bruce, then Thor, then her dad, then Tony. Phil danced with her sixth. And T.J. waited patiently for his turn, happy to watch her smile and twirl around the floor. A quicker paced song came after that, and T.J. waved Mja and Avery over to dance with her. The girls danced together for the next two songs.

For two hours, T.J. hadn't moved from his spot against the wall. And surprisingly, he was perfectly fine that way. When Aleks had danced with _everyone, _and Clint and Natasha, Avery and Phillip, Mja and Erik, Pepper and Tony, and Thor and Jane were slow dancing, and Steve and Bruce had shuffled over to the snack table, leaving the birthday girl alone in the middle of the dance floor, only _then _did T.J. finally get his dance.

He walked towards her, crossing the floor not without having to swerve around a couple of uncoordinated little kids.

"Вы посмотритe…" he started, frowning when he couldn't come up with a suitable word. She grinned at his near perfect Russian.

"красивый. Yeah, I've heard." She whispered, barely heard above the music as she tucked a loose piece of hair behind her ear.

"No, I know how to say beautiful in Russian. It wasn't that. It's the lack of power behind the word that bugged me." He mumbled thoughtfully.

"Oh yeah, вертихвостка? Then what word would you use?" she smirked.

"That's what I'm trying to figure out." He said, unconsciously pulling her closer and beginning to dance. She laughed, rolled her eyes and swayed with him. "Well until I figure it out…" he spoke finally. She cocked her head questioningly. He crashed his lips gently against hers in answer. The moment he pulled away, a new song started.

_The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful  
Stop me and steal my breath.  
And emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky  
Never revealing their depth.  
Tell me that we belong together,  
Dress it up with the trappings of love. I'll be captivated,  
I'll hang from your lips,  
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above._

T.J. linked his fingers together behind her back and she slid her hands down until they rested on his biceps, eyes never once leaving each other's. It wasn't until the chorus that they really started dancing. Dancing as amazing as ever so that people cleared the floor in order to see them better.

_I'll be your crying shoulder,  
I'll be love's suicide  
I'll be better when I'm older,  
I'll be the greatest fan of your life._

He spun her around, her dress swirling up like a tornado, waiting to suck helpless soul's, like T.J., into the unyielding clutches of her heart.

_And rain falls angry on the tin roof  
As we lie awake in my bed.  
You're my survival, you're my living proof.  
My love is alive and not dead.  
Tell me that we belong together.  
Dress it up with the trappings of love._

He pulled her back at the end of the chorus, holding her close, holding onto the feeling, of her body so close to his, with all he had.

_I'll be captivated,  
I'll hang from your lips,  
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above._

_ "_Curse you Aleksandra Barton." He whispered into her ear. She looked up at him with amused confusion.

"Why?"

"How'd you get your hooks in me so deep?" he grumbled. She blushed. "Oh well, you get to suffer the consequences now."

"Oh yeah? What consequences?" she asked.

"Your stuck with me." He smirked, spinning her away from him as the next verse started.

"Oh yeah, _consequence_." She scoffed. He winked at her.

_And I've dropped out, I've burned up, I've fought my way back from the dead.  
I've tuned in, turned on, remembered the things that you said_

They looked at each other, making the silent agreement that they had found their song.

_I'll be your crying shoulder,  
I'll be love's suicide  
I'll be better when I'm older,  
I'll be the greatest fan of your...  
I'll be your crying shoulder,  
I'll be love's suicide  
I'll be better when I'm older,  
I'll be the greatest fan of your life._

T.J. used the last verse to lift her up, both literally and figuratively, to show her off as she deserved, even though she was too shy to do that herself.

_The greatest fan of your life.  
...greatest fan of your life._

_ "_Incomparably radiant." He whispered into her ear, holding her body as it hovered above the ground. She blushed.

"That's two words." The birthday girl contradicted as her boyfriend pulled her upright out of the dip. He couldn't have been more unlike his usual self in that moment.

"Ok, Leks." He laughed, kissing her cheek.

For the couple, the rest of the night was spent swaying tiredly and happily to any and every slow song. Jarvis had eventually resorted to pianist pieces.

"We did good." Clint said to Natasha just before they went to their room, leaving Aleks and T.J. on the dance floor.

"I love you Leks." T.J. whispered as she stifled a yawn against his chest.

"Love you more." She mumbled. T.J. supported her as she finally dozed off, and swinging her lightly into his arms, he carried her to her bed. Watching her for a while as she slept.

_The strands in your eyes that color them wonderful  
Stop me and steal my breath.  
And emeralds from mountains thrust towards the sky  
Never revealing their depth.  
Tell me that we belong together,  
Dress it up with the trappings of love.  
I'll be captivated,  
I'll hang from your lips,  
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above._

I'll be your crying shoulder,  
I'll be love's suicide  
I'll be better when I'm older,  
I'll be the greatest fan of your life.

And rain falls angry on_ the _tin roof_  
As we lie awake in my bed.  
You're my survival, you're my living proof.  
My love is alive and not dead.  
Tell me that we belong together.  
Dress it up with the trappings of love.  
I'll be captivated,  
I'll hang from your lips,  
Instead of the gallows of heartache that hang from above_

_And I've dropped out, I've burned up, I've fought my way back from the dead.  
I've tuned in, turned on, remembered the things that you said_

_I'll be your crying shoulder,  
I'll be love's suicide  
I'll be better when I'm older,  
I'll be the greatest fan of your...  
I'll be your crying shoulder,  
I'll be love's suicide  
I'll be better when I'm older,  
I'll be the greatest fan of your life._

The greatest fan of your life.  
...greatest fan of your life.

_**It Will Rain**_

"Hey…" Aleks asked, jumping off the couch as a soaking wet T.J. Stark entered the room. "You ok?" she asked looking him over.

"Fine. Why would something be wrong?" he snapped.

"I dunno. I was just wondering." She said, eyebrows scrunching together in confusion. "Where've you been?" she asked harmlessly.

"Why do you _need _to know? How is it your business?" he sneered, shoving past her. She shot a disbelieving look at his back.

"I… I don't. No one knew where you'd gone. I was worried." She stated calmly. Suddenly, he spun around angrily.

"Well, contrary to popular belief, not everything is about you." He used a phrased his dad often did. The Hawkeye/Sniper side of her was rapidly shoved aside by the more dominant Black Widow side.

"Yeah. I got that." She scowled in a dangerously quiet voice. He smiled sarcastically. "Oh _that's _attractive." She scoffed.

Take an argument between Tony and Natasha, add in teenage hormones and you pretty much had the young couple's argument laid out.

"Now if you'll excuse me Merida." He derided, reaching to push her aside. Before his hand could come in contact with her arm, she grabbed his wrist and twisted it just enough to keep him from trying anything.

"What is your _problem?_" she hissed.

"Let. Me. Go…" he growled, ripping his arm from her grasp, tweaking it painfully. She watched her boyfriend walk away, hurt, anger and confusion swirling together in a precarious mixture. She winced at the sound of his slamming door, stalking out the front door into the rain. She walked blindly down the street, paying no attention whatsoever to the various alleys she turned down, as she focused on trying to figure out what had happened with T.J.

Too focused on her best friend, she hadn't noticed the men following her until they stepped in front of her.

"Hey gorgeous, you deaf or something?" one leered. She nearly gagged at the way he was looking at her.

"No, just preoccupied." She answered, moving to walk around them.

"Why don't you stay awhile?" Another purred, grabbing her arm. Aleks' countenance darkened at the unfamiliar man's touch. She grabbed his hand twisting it forcefully, using her grip as leverage to knee him in the groin. With her free hand, she gripped his hair, slamming his head into her thigh. He crumpled to the ground unconscious.

"Who are you?" the guy stammered, pointing a gun at the seamlessly harmless young girl.

"Careful with that, I doubt you know how to use it." Aleks jeered, hands up in surrender.

"Who are you?" he asked again, hands shaking.

"Aleks Barton. Perhaps you've heard of me?" she asked, flashing a charming smile. The man's eyes widened.

"You're… you're…" he stuttered.

"I'm… I'm…" she mocked. "Yep. I know who I am." She lunged at the man. She had guessed he would flinch, but she had also weighed the probability of him having the safety on versus the jerking motion that would probably cause him to pull the trigger. She had been wrong. That much was clear as hot lead scraped her arm.

"Ooh. Big mistake." A familiar voice said from behind her. The attacker turned around, eyes wild with fear. Everyone knew about Hawkeye and Black Widow's daughter's protective boyfriend. That was only because T.J. had fought a boy who'd touched her against her will at an Avengers press conference.

"It was an accident." He stammered.

"That's what safety's for." T.J. said, his tone unforgiving. The seventeen year old knocked the second man out, leaving him on the ground and turning to face Aleks. He pulled her cautiously closer, gripping her bleeding arm. She pulled it out of his grasp, hissing in pain.

"How'd you find me?" she asked angrily.

"I chased after you, five minutes after you left." He replied sadly. "Leks, I'm so sorry." He murmured loudly over the rain.

"What _was _that?" she sneered, turning to face him as she cradled her arm against her chest.

"Dad… was being… Tony Stark. And he…"

"Yeah, I know how obnoxious _that _can be." She looked at him with meaningful annoyance.

"He blew me off to hang out with mom and Ave. Third time this week. But that's not an excuse. I'm really sorry." He apologized. She watched his sincere, hurt face for a minute before walking towards him.

"It's ok." She promised, hugging him with her uninjured arm. He sighed, hugging her back.

"Let's get Bruce to stitch up your arm." He suggested, wrapping an arm around her waist and leading her through the rain back home.

_**Bullet From a Gun **_

Aleks sat quietly beside T.J., holding his injured hand in her lap as she picked gently at the white bandage wrapped around it.

"Sorry about your wrist." She mumbled.

"Eh, if you'd been angry enough it would've broken it. So I'm considering myself lucky." He teased, nudging her uninjured arm with his shoulder. It didn't go unnoticed on his part how she had kept her recently stitched up forearm completely immobile. "How's your arm?" he asked, leaning his head against her temple.

"Fine… Shoot." She grimaced, getting to her feet and moving to the entrance to the hallway.

"What?"

"I'd stay quiet if I were you…" she hissed. T.J. paled considerably, scrambling to his feet. _Hawkeye. _"Dad, wait. Before you…" Aleks started, sighing when he slipped past her.

"I warned you." Clint growled, backing the poor boy into a wall.

"I didn't… Well, I did, but…" he stammered, frustrated.

"DAD!" Aleks shouted again, fitting in between them and pushing them apart.

"Leks, watch your…" she yelped as dizzying pain shot up her arm. "Arm. Dang it Leks." T.J. groaned, steadying her. "Breathe, Aleks. It'll stop hurting in a minute." He coached until her breathing slowed. She looked up at her dad guiltily. Clint wordlessly, _gently_, took hold of Aleks' arm, inspecting the heavy bandage wrapped around the space of her arm just below her shoulder. The abrasion could nearly be considered a through and through shot with how deep it had gone. Aleks would've pulled away if she was sure it wouldn't hurt. He let her left hand go back to cradling her right against her chest.

"Dad, listen to me." She demanded again. "We got into a _fight. _I went for a walk, got lost. Two guys tried to hit on me... I KOed the first guy but his partner shot me. If T.J. hadn't found me, I don't think we'd have had the same result." She said quickly.

"Is that true?" Clint asked carefully, facing T.J. again.

"Yes." He answered sincerely. Clint nodded once.

"Then I apologize. And thanks for protecting her."

"Always."

"And T.J., you should talk to your dad." Clint added. T.J. sent a slightly betrayed look to Aleks, who looked at him with an honestly innocent look. "Don't worry, she didn't tell. I'm Hawkeye, sort of known for being perceptive." He winked. "I'll have Bruce come check up on you, baby girl." Clint said in a tone that left no room for argument, kissing her forehead as he left.

"Well that was close." Aleks sighed as she followed T.J. to the couch.

"He'll always come around. I'm too awesome." He smirked. She rolled her eyes.

"That you are, hot shot."


End file.
